Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-5412

Access Control in Canonical Juju ≤ 2.9.57

Public PoCAccess Control
Published
10 April 2026
Modified
30 April 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.9
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0044 38th percentile
Risk Priority 68 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2026-5412 is a critical-severity Improper Authorization (CWE-285) vulnerability in Canonical Juju. Its CVSS base score is 9.9 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Executable Installer File Permissions Weakness (T1574.005); ranked at the 38th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

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-2026-5412 is an authorization bypass vulnerability (CWE-285) in the Controller facade of Juju versions prior to 2.9.57 and 3.6.21. An authenticated user can call the CloudSpec API method to extract the cloud credentials used to bootstrap the controller, enabling access to sensitive information by low-privileged users. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.9 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H), reflecting its critical severity due to network accessibility, low complexity, and high impacts across confidentiality, integrity, and availability in a changed scope.

A low-privileged authenticated user can exploit this issue remotely without user interaction. By invoking the affected API method, the attacker gains unauthorized access to cloud credentials, which could facilitate broader compromise of cloud environments managed by the Juju controller.

Mitigation is provided in Juju versions 2.9.57 and 3.6.21, as detailed in the security advisory at GHSA-w5fq-8965-c969 and pull requests 22205 and 22206 on the Juju GitHub repository. Practitioners should upgrade affected deployments to these versions to address the authorization flaw.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In Juju versions prior to 2.9.57 and 3.6.21, an authorization issue exists in the Controller facade. An authenticated user can call the CloudSpec API method to extract the cloud credentials used to bootstrap the controller. This allows a low-privileged user…

more

to access sensitive credentials. This issue is resolved in Juju versions 2.9.57 and 3.6.21.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1574.005 Executable Installer File Permissions Weakness Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking the binaries used by an installer.
T1574.010 Services File Permissions Weakness Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking the binaries used by services.
T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
T1012 Query Registry Discovery
Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry to gather information about the system, configuration, and installed software.
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1083 File and Directory Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may enumerate files and directories or may search in specific locations of a host or network share for certain information within a file system.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-32692Same product: Canonical Juju
CVE-2025-0928Same product: Canonical Juju
CVE-2025-53512Same product: Canonical Juju
CVE-2025-68152Same product: Canonical Juju
CVE-2025-68153Same product: Canonical Juju
CVE-2026-32693Same product: Canonical Juju
CVE-2025-53513Same product: Canonical Juju
CVE-2023-0092Same product: Canonical Juju
CVE-2026-5774Same product: Canonical Juju
CVE-2024-8037Same product: Canonical Juju

Affected Assets

canonical
juju
≤ 2.9.57 · 3.6 — 3.6.21

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

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

—

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Mandates that access-control decisions are made and applied to each request before access occurs.

Requires a tamperproof, always-invoked reference monitor that performs authorization checks.

Directly requires enforcement of approved authorizations for every access request, stopping improper or missing checks.

Limits granted privileges so that even a bypassed check affects fewer resources.

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

PR.AA-05 mostly prevents CWE-285 via enforced policy, reviews, and least-privilege authorization decisions, yet CWE-285 remains only partially prevented because code-level check omissions or errors can still occur outside that single control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices catch and eliminate most authorization defects before release, yet a single broad outcome cannot address every design, role, and runtime facet of CWE-285.

PR.AA-01 partial match
prevents

PR.AA-01 supplies managed identities and access-request workflows that can support downstream authorization decisions, yet does nothing to enforce or verify authorization checks inside a product, leaving CWE-285 fully unaddressed by this control alone.

PR.IR-01 partial match
prevents

Network segmentation/zero-trust limits external reachability (partial prevention of exploitation) but leaves application-level authorization logic untouched, so the CWE remains fully introducible and only one facet of its risk is addressed.

PR.PS-05 none match
prevents

PR.PS-05 blocks unauthorized binaries/DNS while CWE-285 is an in-product authorization-check defect, so the control neither prevents the weakness nor removes any of its risk.

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

By requiring documented authorization rules and periodic policy reviews, the control makes it less likely that authorization decisions will be omitted or implemented inconsistently across applications.

prevents

Mapping access rights to information classification and business requirements forces correct enforcement of authorization decisions, blocking the incorrect authorization weakness at the policy and implementation stage.

finds

Independent reviewers evaluate whether authorization logic matches policy, thereby reducing the window in which incorrect or missing authorization checks remain in production.

finds

By requiring managers to verify that authorization decisions match policy and to remediate deviations, the control limits the persistence of incorrect or missing authorization checks.

prevents

Requiring authorization processes and privilege assignments to be specified during project initiation prevents downstream components from receiving overly broad or incorrect rights that would allow unauthorized actions.

mitigates

By requiring gateways to evaluate every cross-domain request against security requirements, the control stops requests from bypassing intended authorization checks.

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).

Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
  • V-252656 The OL 8 operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-285
  • V-248581 OL 8 must require users to provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-285
RHEL 7 (3 rules)
  • V-204429 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that users must provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-285
  • V-204430 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that users must re-authenticate for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-285
  • V-251704 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-285
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-251712 The RHEL 8 operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-285

References