Administrator code execution via unchecked nginx directives
Published Sep 8, 2026 · Updated Sep 10, 2026
Protection mechanism bypass in Okta Access Gateway before 2026.9.1 allows remote authenticated users to execute injected nginx directives. The application-level custom configuration field is interpolated directly into an nginx server block without the Lua-directive restriction or any inspection. The user must hold administrator privileges to create or modify application configurations, and the appliance must apply and reload the configuration.
Summary
What happened
Protection mechanism bypass in Okta Access Gateway before 2026.9.1 allows remote authenticated users to execute injected nginx directives. The application-level custom configuration field is interpolated directly into an nginx server block without the Lua-directive restriction or any inspection. The user must hold administrator privileges to create or modify application configurations, and the appliance must apply and reload the configuration.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-78552
- Published
- Sep 8, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 10, 2026
- Vendor
- Okta
- Product
- Okta Access Gateway
- Classifications
- CWE-693, T1059
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 8, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 10, 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 <2026.9.1
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
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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