Knowledge-base destruction via unauthorized collection overwrite
Published May 15, 2026 · Updated May 15, 2026
Missing authorization in Open WebUI before 0.9.0 allows remote authenticated users to destroy or poison another user's knowledge base. The process_web and process_youtube endpoints pass an unchecked collection_name to save_docs_to_vector_db, which deletes the selected vector collection before storing attacker-controlled content when overwrite is true. Exploitation requires a valid account and the target collection name; it replaces stored embeddings and corrupts subsequent RAG answers.
Summary
What happened
Missing authorization in Open WebUI before 0.9.0 allows remote authenticated users to destroy or poison another user's knowledge base. The process_web and process_youtube endpoints pass an unchecked collection_name to save_docs_to_vector_db, which deletes the selected vector collection before storing attacker-controlled content when overwrite is true. Exploitation requires a valid account and the target collection name; it replaces stored embeddings and corrupts subsequent RAG answers.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-44554
- Published
- May 15, 2026
- Updated
- May 15, 2026
- Vendor
- Open WebUI
- Product
- Open WebUI
- Classifications
- CWE-862, T1565.001, T1485
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 15, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 15, 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=< 0.9.0
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
- Upstream collection-overwrite request scenarioproof of concept · unverified
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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