CVE Intelligence
Critical Access control

CVE-2026-55089 — Etherpad: JWT `admin` claim presence-only check lets non-admin OAuth users invoke every Etherpad HTTP API endpoint

Etherpad is a real-time collaborative editor. From 2.1.0 until 3.1.0, Etherpad's src/node/handler/APIHandler.ts authorizes requests to /api/2/* in the authorization_code OAuth path by using requiredClaims with the admin claim. This check requires only that the claim exists, while src/node/security/OAuth2Provider.ts issues admin: false for configured non-admin users. A non-admin user with a valid signed token can therefore invoke administrative functions including setHTML, setText, appendText, deletePad, copyPad, movePad, restoreRevision, anonymizeAuthor, listAllPads, and listAuthorsOfPad, allowing disclosure, modification, or deletion of pads across the instance. This issue is fixed in version 3.1.0.

Published Aug 19, 2026 · Updated Oct 15, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: GitHub_M

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • Technical severity (critical)+10
  • CISA SSVC: exploitation "poc"+5

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.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
—
No EPSS score.
Affects
ETHER
Etherpad
CVSS base
9.9
Critical · 2 source(s)

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.

Exploitation
Proof of concept
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

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.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (ETHER Etherpad).
  2. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
  3. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (access control), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
ETHER Etherpad version >= 2.1.0, < 3.1.0 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
9.9 CVSS 3.1 Critical 3.1 6.0 security-advisories@github.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
9.9 CVSS 3.1 Critical — — GitHub_M via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L (score shown at the top: security-advisories@github.com)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-863 · Incorrect Authorization

Other CVEs with this weakness →

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
  • Audit administrative actions and access to resources outside each user’s normal pattern.
web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPSauthentication logsapplication logs

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · ether/etherpad
    Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 15, 2026
  • CVSS changed · 9.9
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Deferred
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVE published
    Aug 19, 2026 · GitHub_M

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 15, 2026 – Oct 15, 2026

References

4 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

ETHER
every CVE for this vendor
Access control
same class
CWE-863
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-55090 Etherpad: Stored XSS in HTML export via unescaped attribute-pool values Aug 19, 2026
  • CVE-2026-55085 Etherpad: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') in etherpad-lite Aug 19, 2026
  • CVE-2026-55086 Etherpad: Import/export use Math.random() for temp file paths; predictable paths on shared /tmp enable symlink-based file overwrite Aug 19, 2026
  • CVE-2026-55087 Etherpad: x-proxy-path header reflected into admin HTML/JS/CSS (cache-poisoning XSS) and concatenated into redirect (open-redirect) Aug 19, 2026
  • CVE-2026-55088 Etherpad: Device-to-device author-token transfer endpoint is replayable, never expires, and exposes the cleartext author token Aug 19, 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 FIRST EPSS score.
  • 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-2026-55089 is "Etherpad: JWT `admin` claim presence-only check lets non-admin OAuth users invoke every Etherpad HTTP API endpoint", rated Critical. It affects Etherpad (ETHER); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 9.9 describes technical severity. 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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