CVE-2026-16520
Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/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:XCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2026-16520 is a high-severity Improper Input Validation (CWE-20) vulnerability in Genians Genian NAC (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 8.7 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Invalid Code Signature (T1036.001); ranked at the 32th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-23 (Data Mining Protection) and SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-63775
Vulnerability Data
Improper input validation and Exposure of sensitive information through data queries vulnerability in Genians Genian NAC V4.0, Genians Genian NAC V5.0, and Genians Genian ZTNA V6.0 allows SQL Injection and Authentication Bypass. This issue affects Genian NAC V4.0: from 4.0.0…
more
before 4.0.175(Revision 150340); Genian NAC V5.0: from 5.0.0 before 5.0.65 LTS(Revision 150331), from 5.0.0 before 5.0.75 LTS(Revision 150330), from 5.0.0 before 5.0.87 Release Stable(Revision 150329), and from 5.0.0 before 5.0.88(Revision 150328); Genian ZTNA V6.0: from 6.0.0 before 6.0.26 LTS(Revision 150337), from 6.0.0 before 6.0.35 LTS(Revision 150336), from 6.0.0 before 6.0.47 Release Stable(Revision 150334), and from 6.0.0 before 6.0.48(Revision 150333).
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 6 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
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Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
AC-23 directly requires mechanisms to protect against unauthorized data mining and inference from statistical queries that would expose sensitive information.
Developer testing and evaluation can discover missing input validation through analysis or test cases.
SI-10 directly requires validity checks on information inputs, structurally preventing improper or missing validation.
Requiring documented development standards and tools can embed input-validation practices into the engineering process.
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.
Behavior analytics on query activity can detect inference attempts but does not prevent exposure at query time.
Least-privilege query permissions directly limit the data an attacker can request or infer.
Protecting data-in-use reduces what remains available for inference via queries.
Secure SDLC practices directly require and enforce input validation during development.
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.
Classification helps identify sensitive data that must be protected from inference attacks.
Access control limits who can run queries that could expose sensitive information via inference.
Granular access rights reduce the ability of users to craft inference queries.
Data masking prevents inference by obscuring sensitive values returned in query results.
DLP can detect and block queries or result sets that risk exposing sensitive information.
Logging query activity supports detection of inference attempts after the fact.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (higher-evidence rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
- V-230265 RHEL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. prevents CWE-20