CVE-2026-50000: Auth Bypass (CVSS 5)

Description

SecureDrop is an open-source whistleblower submission system that media organizations can use to securely accept documents from, and communicate with anonymous sources. From 2.5.0 until 2.16.0, the `Journalist Interface` can accept an `API session` token against the `web UI` because its `SessionInterface` keeps a mutable session key prefix that changes with each request and persists across requests. API and web sessions were separated in `Redis` starting in version 2.5.0, but prefix corruption confuses those session namespaces. An attacker who already has access to the secret `Journalist Interface` onion address, the required authentication access and a recent nonexpired `API session` token can reuse that token against the `web UI` until its natural expiry, at most eight hours. The corrupted prefix can also prevent logout from deleting the correct `Redis` session, although normal expiry still applies. A compromised journalist can access encrypted submissions and perform broad actions on source submissions, but this issue does not expose plaintext submissions or affect the running system's availability. This issue is fixed in version 2.16.0.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

5.0

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0036

Probability of exploitation

0.30%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-863 Incorrect Authorization

References

Other References

https://github.com/freedomofpress/securedrop/commit/cbe60cd68b67f44ffdd44c364c71cc71b40acfb5 https://github.com/freedomofpress/securedrop/releases/tag/2.16.0 https://github.com/freedomofpress/securedrop/security/advisories/GHSA-78xq-8jf3-gpfx

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-50000? +

SecureDrop is an open-source whistleblower submission system that media organizations can use to securely accept documents from, and communicate with anonymous sources. From 2.5.0 until 2.16.0, the `Journalist Interface` can accept an `API session` token against the `web UI` because its `SessionInterface` keeps a mutable session key prefix that changes with each request and persists across requests. API and web sessions were separated in `Redis` starting in version 2.5.0, but prefix corruption confuses those session namespaces. An attacker who already has access to the secret `Journalist Interface` onion address, the required authentication access and a recent nonexpired `API session` token can reuse that token against the `web UI` until its natural expiry, at most eight hours. The corrupted prefix can also prevent logout from deleting the correct `Redis` session, although normal expiry still applies. A compromised journalist can access encrypted submissions and perform broad actions on source submissions, but this issue does not expose plaintext submissions or affect the running system's availability. This issue is fixed in version 2.16.0. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.0 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2026-50000? +

CVE-2026-50000 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.0 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance. The EPSS score is 0.0036, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-50000? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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