CVE-2026-12771
Access Control in Litellm ≤ 1.82.3
Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/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:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XSummary
CVE-2026-12771 is a low-severity Incorrect Privilege Assignment (CWE-266) vulnerability in Litellm Litellm. Its CVSS base score is 1.3 (Low).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 21th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-38137
Vulnerability Data
A vulnerability was identified in BerriAI litellm up to 1.82.2. This affects an unknown function of the file litellm/proxy/auth/user_api_key_auth.py of the component M2M JWT Handler. Such manipulation leads to improper authorization. The attack can be launched remotely. A high complexity…
more
level is associated with this attack. The exploitability is reported as difficult. The exploit is publicly available and might be used. The vendor was contacted early about this disclosure.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Remote improper authorization flaw in public-facing proxy auth handler directly enables exploitation of the application (T1190).
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly enforces authorization decisions on every access request, blocking the improper authorization flaw in the M2M JWT handler.
Enforces least-privilege assignment, directly countering CWE-266 incorrect privilege assignment exploited via the JWT path.
Requires explicit, policy-driven access-control decisions that would have prevented the flawed JWT authorization logic.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Directly enforces least-privilege policy definition, management, and review that prevents incorrect privilege assignments.
Secure SDLC practices catch and eliminate most authorization defects before release, yet a single broad outcome cannot address every design, role, and runtime facet of CWE-285.
PR.AA-01 supplies managed identities and access-request workflows that can support downstream authorization decisions, yet does nothing to enforce or verify authorization checks inside a product, leaving CWE-285 fully unaddressed by this control alone.
Network segmentation/zero-trust limits external reachability (partial prevention of exploitation) but leaves application-level authorization logic untouched, so the CWE remains fully introducible and only one facet of its risk is addressed.
PR.PS-05 blocks unauthorized binaries/DNS while CWE-285 is an in-product authorization-check defect, so the control neither prevents the weakness nor removes any of its risk.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
The access-rights control governs the entire lifecycle of privilege assignment, directly eliminating incorrect assignments.
Privileged-access-rights control explicitly requires least-privilege assignment and ongoing validation, directly mitigating CWE-266.
Granular, policy-driven assignment of permissions and dynamic enforcement of those permissions prevent the incorrect or missing authorization decisions that lead to improper authorization flaws.
By requiring documented authorization rules and periodic policy reviews, the control makes it less likely that authorization decisions will be omitted or implemented inconsistently across applications.
Access control policy directly prevents incorrect privilege assignment by defining who may receive which rights.
Segregation of duties reduces blast radius of any single incorrect privilege but does not prevent the assignment itself.