CVE-2026-38992

CriticalRCE

Published: 29 April 2026

Published

29 April 2026

Modified

30 April 2026

KEV Added

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Patch

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CVSS Score 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS Score 0.0010 27.5th percentile

Risk Priority 20 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2026-38992 is a critical-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Felsec (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 27.5th 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 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).

Threat & Defense at a Glance

What attackers do: exploitation maps to Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190) and 1 other technique. What defenders deploy: see the NIST 800-53 controls recommended below.

Threat & Defense Details

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

prevent

Enforces validation and sanitization of filter parameters to prevent injection of malicious MongoLite $func operators leading to arbitrary code execution.

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match

prevent

Mandates timely patching of known flaws like CVE-2026-38992 by upgrading to Cockpit v2.14.0, directly eliminating the vulnerability.

SC-7 Boundary Protection partial match

prevent

Boundary protection with web application firewalls filters malicious filter parameters at external interfaces, blocking unauthenticated remote exploits.

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access

Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.

attack.mitre.org →

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution

Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.

attack.mitre.org →

Why these techniques?

The vulnerability is a remote unauthenticated RCE in a public-facing web application (Cockpit CMS) via filter parameter abuse, directly enabling T1190 (Exploit Public-Facing Application). Successful exploitation allows arbitrary system command execution on the host, directly facilitating T1059 (Command and Scripting Interpreter).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v18.1

NVD Description

Cockpit v2.13.5 and earlier is vulnerable to arbitrary code execution via the filter parameter within multiple endpoints. This vulnerability allows an attacker to run system commands on the underlying infrastructure via the MongoLite $func operator.

Deeper analysisAI

CVE-2026-38992 affects Cockpit v2.13.5 and earlier versions, enabling arbitrary code execution through the filter parameter in multiple endpoints. The vulnerability stems from improper handling that allows attackers to utilize the MongoLite $func operator to execute system commands on the underlying infrastructure. It is classified under CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code) with 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).

An unauthenticated attacker with network access can exploit this vulnerability with low complexity and no user interaction required. Successful exploitation grants remote code execution, allowing full control over the affected system, including high-impact compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability through arbitrary command execution.

Mitigation is addressed in Cockpit version 2.14.0, as outlined in the project's GitHub release notes. Further technical details on this and related vulnerabilities in Cockpit CMS 2.13.5 are available in the advisory published by felsec.com.