CVE-2026-12986 — Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) in Payara Payara Server
A critical vulnerability in Admin GUI in Payara Server Full 4.x, 5.x, 6.x, 7.x, 7.2026.x, 6.2025.x, 6.2024.x on All platforms that allows the attacker to leak the admin gfresttoken to an attacker-controlled host that can result in a full unauthenticated takeover of Payara admin domain. A Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in the DownloadServlet of the Admin GUI in Payara Server allows a remote attacker to exfiltrate the administrator's REST session token (gfresttoken) to an attacker-controlled host via a crafted request URL. Combined with the absence of CSRF protection on DownloadServlet, an unauthenticated attacker can trick a logged-in administrator into triggering the token leak, then replay the stolen token to gain full administrative access to the Payara domain, leading to arbitrary code execution via WAR deployment. The vulnerability exists in the DownloadServlet and associated ContentSource implementations (LogViewerContentSource, LogFilesContentSource, LBConfigContentSource, ClientStubsContentSource) within the admingui:console-common module.
Who exploits it and how urgent it is
A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.
How the score was calculated
- EPSS 0.3% (30-day exploitation probability)+3
- Technical severity (high)+6
The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).
Triage
Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.
CISA SSVC assessment CISA
Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.
Remediation
Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.
No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.
First 24 hours
Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.
- Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Payara Payara Server).
- No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
- Exploitation requires user interaction: tighten email/web filtering and warn affected users.
- Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (csrf), errors and authentication anomalies.
Affected scope
Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payara | Payara Server | ≥ 7.2025.1 and < 7.2026.6≥ 7.0.0 and < 7.1.0≥ 6.0.0 and < 6.39.0≥ 5.20.0 and < 5.88.0≥ 4.1.144 and < 4.1.2.191.56≥ 5.181 and ≤ 5.201.2≥ 5.2020.1 and ≤ 5.2022.5≥ 6.2023.1 and ≤ 6.2025.11 | Vulnerable | CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
Attack characteristics
The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.
Every base score collected
Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.
| Score | Version | Severity | Expl. | Impact | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.3 | CVSS 4.0 | High | — | — | 769c9ae7-73c3-4e47-ae19-903170fc3eb8 via NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| 7.3 | CVSS 4.0 | High | — | — | Payara via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
CVSS:4.0/AV:A/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:P/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:P/AU:Y/R:U/V:C/RE:M/U:Amber (score shown at the top: 769c9ae7-73c3-4e47-ae19-903170fc3eb8) Weakness MITRE
Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.
EPSS over time FIRST
Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 0.27%
Detection
Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.
- Not enough vector or weakness data: use the affected application’s logs as a starting point.
Timeline
What happened to this CVE, newest first.
- 2026
- Affected products added · payara/payara server
- SSVC assessment updated
- Record published
- CVSS changed · 7.3
- Source status changed · → Deferred
- Record created in this database
- CVE published
Source activity
Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.
- 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026
References
1 on the record
Elsewhere on this site
Related CVEs (same products)
- Medium CVE-2026-92082 Payara Server is vulnerable to brute-force login attacks due to the absence of a limit on failed login attempts Sep 15, 2026
Not in any source we poll
Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.
- No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
- No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
- No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
- No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.
Answered from this record
Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.
What should defenders know first?
CVE-2026-12986 is "Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) in Payara Payara Server", rated High. It affects Payara Server (Payara); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 7.3 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.27% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.
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