Admin-path access via percent-encoded URI
Published Aug 18, 2026 · Updated Aug 18, 2026
Incorrect authorization in Malcolm before 26.08.0 allows remote authenticated users to reach admin-only paths via percent-encoded URLs. In nginx/lua/nginx_auth_helpers.lua, check_rbac() matches role rules against ngx.var.request_uri after only collapsing literal /../ segments, so normalize_uri_for_rbac() never percent-decodes the path before the access check. Any low-privilege account that depends on Malcolm's proxy-layer RBAC can request paths such as /%68tadmin.php and be routed by nginx to protected backends that the literal /htadmin.php path would block.
Summary
What happened
Incorrect authorization in Malcolm before 26.08.0 allows remote authenticated users to reach admin-only paths via percent-encoded URLs. In nginx/lua/nginx_auth_helpers.lua, check_rbac() matches role rules against ngx.var.request_uri after only collapsing literal /../ segments, so normalize_uri_for_rbac() never percent-decodes the path before the access check. Any low-privilege account that depends on Malcolm's proxy-layer RBAC can request paths such as /%68tadmin.php and be routed by nginx to protected backends that the literal /htadmin.php path would block.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-19670
- Published
- Aug 18, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 18, 2026
- Vendor
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
- Product
- Malcolm
- Classifications
- CWE-863, T1068
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 18, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 18, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <=26.07.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- GHSA-jr6p-63pg-hr6g proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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