CVE-2026-30229
Published: 06 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-30229 is a high-severity Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863) vulnerability in Parseplatform Parse-Server. Its CVSS base score is 8.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 30.5th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2026-30229 is a high-severity authorization vulnerability (CWE-863) in Parse Server, an open-source backend platform deployable on any Node.js-compatible infrastructure. In versions prior to 8.6.6 and 9.5.0-alpha.4, the readOnlyMasterKey credential can invoke the POST /loginAs endpoint to generate a valid session token for any user account. This flaw enables a read-only master key to bypass intended restrictions and escalate to full user privileges, compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.2 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H). Deployments explicitly using readOnlyMasterKey are vulnerable.
An attacker with access to a readOnlyMasterKey—typically a privileged administrative credential—can exploit this remotely over the network with low complexity and no user interaction. By sending a crafted POST request to /loginAs, they obtain a session token impersonating any target user, granting full read and write access to that user's data across the Parse Server instance. This could lead to data exfiltration, modification, or deletion, depending on the application's data model and user permissions.
The Parse community addressed this in Parse Server versions 8.6.6 and 9.5.0-alpha.4, as detailed in the official release notes and security advisory (GHSA-79wj-8rqv-jvp5). Security practitioners should upgrade immediately if using affected versions and review configurations to ensure readOnlyMasterKey is not exposed or misused, disabling it where possible in favor of more granular permissions.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-10060
Vulnerability details
Parse Server is an open source backend that can be deployed to any infrastructure that can run Node.js. Prior to versions 8.6.6 and 9.5.0-alpha.4, the readOnlyMasterKey can call POST /loginAs to obtain a valid session token for any user. This…
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allows a read-only credential to impersonate arbitrary users with full read and write access to their data. Any Parse Server deployment that uses readOnlyMasterKey is affected. This issue has been patched in versions 8.6.6 and 9.5.0-alpha.4.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Authorization bypass in public-facing Parse Server API allows readOnlyMasterKey holder to escalate privileges and impersonate any valid user via crafted /loginAs request, directly mapping to exploitation for privilege escalation and abuse of valid accounts.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly enforces authorization policy so that readOnlyMasterKey cannot invoke POST /loginAs or obtain session tokens for arbitrary users.
Ensures the readOnlyMasterKey is restricted to read-only operations and cannot escalate to full user read/write privileges via loginAs.
Requires prompt application of the vendor patch (8.6.6 / 9.5.0-alpha.4) that eliminates the authorization flaw in the /loginAs endpoint.