Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-45339

Access Control in Openwebui Open Webui ≤ 0.9.0

Public PoCAccess Control
Published
15 May 2026
Modified
17 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0031 23th percentile
Risk Priority 48 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-45339 is a medium-severity Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863) vulnerability in Openwebui Open Webui. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 23th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

This vulnerability is AI-related — categorised as LLM Application Platforms; in the Supply Chain and Deployment risk domain.

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.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Open WebUI is a self-hosted artificial intelligence platform designed to operate entirely offline. Prior to 0.9.0, Open WebUI allows admins to restrict which API endpoints an API key can access. When an API key is restricted from /api/v1/messages, requests using…

more

the Authorization: Bearer sk-... header are correctly blocked with 403. However, the same key sent via the x-api-key header bypasses the restriction entirely — the request is authenticated, the model is invoked, and a full response is returned. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.0.

CWE(s)

AI Security AnalysisAI

AI Category
LLM Application Platforms
Risk Domain
Supply Chain and Deployment
OWASP Top 10 for LLMs 2025
None mapped
Classification Reason
Matched keywords: artificial intelligence, open webui

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1548 Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may circumvent mechanisms designed to control privilege elevation to gain higher-level permissions.
T1548.002 Bypass User Account Control Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may bypass UAC mechanisms to elevate process privileges on system.
T1548.003 Sudo and Sudo Caching Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may perform sudo caching and/or use the sudoers file to elevate privileges.
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.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-54021Same product: Openwebui Open Webui
CVE-2026-44561Same product: Openwebui Open Webui
CVE-2026-59212Same product: Openwebui Open Webui
CVE-2026-44557Same product: Openwebui Open Webui
CVE-2026-45672Same product: Openwebui Open Webui
CVE-2026-45316Same product: Openwebui Open Webui
CVE-2026-44564Same product: Openwebui Open Webui
CVE-2024-7048Same product: Openwebui Open Webui
CVE-2026-44567Same product: Openwebui Open Webui
CVE-2026-59227Same product: Openwebui Open Webui

Affected Assets

openwebui
open webui
≤ 0.9.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 5 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 directly requires correct enforcement of authorization decisions on every access request, structurally preventing incorrect checks.

AC-24 ensures access-control decisions are made and applied consistently, reducing the chance of an incorrect authorization result.

A reference monitor that is always invoked and tamper-proof forces every authorization decision through a verified, correct path.

Least-privilege assignments shrink the set of authorizations that must be checked correctly, limiting exposure to flawed 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.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Defining, enforcing, and reviewing access authorizations and least privilege directly prevents incorrect 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.

prevents

Requiring consistency between access rights and classification plus formal approval steps ensures that the authorization logic correctly distinguishes between entities that should and should not be granted access.

prevents

Enforcing policy-driven approval and role-change reviews stops incorrect or stale authorization decisions from remaining in effect after job changes or terminations.

prevents

By tying access rights to identity, device, location and classification, the control reduces the likelihood that an authorization decision will be based on an incorrect or bypassed policy.

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-863
  • V-252656 The OL 8 operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-863
RHEL 7 (1 rule)
  • V-204430 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that users must re-authenticate for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-863
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-251712 The RHEL 8 operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-863

References