SYSTEM escalation via exposed signing secret
Published May 12, 2026 · Updated May 12, 2026
Privilege escalation in Cribl Edge for Windows before 4.17.1 allows local users to gain NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM through a token-forgery chain. Incorrect permissions on the installer-created authentication directory expose a secret used to sign JWTs and derive password hashes; a forged administrative token then invokes a pipeline function that reaches a SYSTEM command sink. A locally authenticated Windows account is required, and successful exploitation provides full operating-system control.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in Cribl Edge for Windows before 4.17.1 allows local users to gain NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM through a token-forgery chain. Incorrect permissions on the installer-created authentication directory expose a secret used to sign JWTs and derive password hashes; a forged administrative token then invokes a pipeline function that reaches a SYSTEM command sink. A locally authenticated Windows account is required, and successful exploitation provides full operating-system control.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-45393
- Published
- May 12, 2026
- Updated
- May 12, 2026
- Vendor
- Cribl
- Product
- Cribl Edge
- Classifications
- CWE-20, CWE-276, CWE-78, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 12, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 12, 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 <4.17.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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