Unauthenticated RCE via forged ViewState deserialization
Published Apr 16, 2026 · Updated Apr 16, 2026
ViewState deserialization in Digital Knowledge KnowledgeDeliver deployments before February 24, 2026 allows remote attackers to execute OS-level code. The standardized web.config embeds identical machineKey values, allowing a forged __VIEWSTATE HTTP parameter to pass validation and be deserialized by ASP.NET. Exploitation requires an accessible deployment whose default key remains unchanged and yields code execution in the IIS worker context.
Summary
What happened
ViewState deserialization in Digital Knowledge KnowledgeDeliver deployments before February 24, 2026 allows remote attackers to execute OS-level code. The standardized web.config embeds identical machineKey values, allowing a forged __VIEWSTATE HTTP parameter to pass validation and be deserialized by ASP.NET. Exploitation requires an accessible deployment whose default key remains unchanged and yields code execution in the IIS worker context.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-5426
- Published
- Apr 16, 2026
- Updated
- Apr 16, 2026
- Vendor
- Digital Knowledge Co., Ltd.
- Product
- KnowledgeDeliver
- Classifications
- CWE-321, CWE-502, T1190
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 16, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 16, 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 <20260224
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
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Reported exploitation
- Late-2025 KnowledgeDeliver zero-day exploitationreported exploitation
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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