CVE-2026-2038
Access Control in Gfi Archiver 15.10
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2026-2038 is a critical-severity Missing Authorization (CWE-862) vulnerability in Gfi Archiver. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 49th 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-24 (Access Control Decisions) and AC-25 (Reference Monitor) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-2038 is a missing authorization vulnerability, classified as an authentication bypass, affecting GFI Archiver installations. The flaw resides in the configuration of the MArc.Core.Remoting.exe process, which listens on TCP port 8017 and fails to enforce proper authorization checks before granting access to sensitive functionality. This issue, mapped to CWE-862 (Missing Authorization), carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and was originally tracked as ZDI-CAN-27934.
Remote attackers can exploit this vulnerability without authentication, as no privileges or user interaction are required. By connecting to the exposed port 8017, an unauthenticated adversary gains unauthorized access to the service. While the bypass alone does not directly execute code, it can be chained with other vulnerabilities to achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the SYSTEM user, potentially leading to full compromise of the affected host.
The Zero Day Initiative published details in advisory ZDI-26-075, available at https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-26-075/, which canonically reports the issue and likely includes recommendations for mitigation, such as applying vendor patches or restricting network access to port 8017. Security practitioners should consult GFI's official channels for updated patches and hardening guidance.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-7775
Vulnerability Data
GFI Archiver MArc.Core Missing Authorization Authentication Bypass Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to bypass authentication on affected installations of GFI Archiver. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the configuration of the MArc.Core.Remoting.exe…
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process, which listens on port 8017. The issue results from the lack of authorization prior to allowing access to functionality. An attacker can leverage this in conjunction with other vulnerabilities to execute code in the context of SYSTEM. Was ZDI-CAN-27934.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 5 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
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Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
AC-3 directly requires enforcement of authorization decisions on every access request, structurally eliminating missing authorization checks.
AC-24 mandates that access control decisions are applied to each request, preventing bypass of authorization logic.
AC-25 requires a tamperproof, always-invoked reference monitor that ensures authorization checks cannot be omitted.
AC-6 reduces the set of actions reachable without proper authorization, limiting blast radius of missing checks.
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.
Explicitly requires defining, enforcing, and reviewing authorizations and least privilege, directly preventing missing authorization checks.
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.
Requiring authentication and credentials before any access occurs eliminates the absence of authorization checks that would otherwise allow an unauthenticated actor to reach protected resources.
Requiring formal authorization of every access request before rights are granted ensures that checks for required permissions are performed, preventing missing authorization checks from being introduced.
Mandatory authorization checks and central records of granted rights ensure that every access attempt is preceded by an explicit decision rather than relying on missing checks.
Segregating the approval of access rights from their implementation provides an independent check that reduces the impact of missing authorization checks in the resulting system configuration.
By requiring competent outsiders to verify that every function enforces the need-to-know principle, the control lowers the likelihood that missing authorization checks persist undetected.
Defining authorization responsibilities and reviewing risk-treatment progress throughout the project lifecycle catches missing authorization checks before the system is deployed.
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` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
- V-248581 OL 8 must require users to provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
- V-252656 The OL 8 operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
RHEL 7 (2 rules)
- V-251704 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
- V-204429 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that users must provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862