Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-57969

Access Control in Microsoft Azure Cyclecloud ≤ 8.9.1

Published
14 July 2026
Modified
22 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0053 42th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-57969 is a high-severity Missing Authentication for Critical Function (CWE-306) vulnerability in Microsoft Azure Cyclecloud. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 42th 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-3 (Access Enforcement) and IA-2 (Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Missing authentication for critical function in Azure CycleCloud allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges over a network.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
Why these techniques?

Missing auth on critical function enables network-based privilege escalation by an authorized user (CWE-306).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-26160Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2026-50333Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2026-26159Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2026-20803Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2026-50451Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2026-50512Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2026-26125Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2026-56164Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2026-50444Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2025-59246Same vendor: Microsoft

Affected Assets

microsoft
azure cyclecloud
≤ 8.9.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • IA-2 Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 6 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.2.3
  • V6.4.4
  • V10.4.16
  • V12.1.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly enforces approved authorizations for critical functions, preventing the missing authentication that enables privilege escalation in Azure CycleCloud.

prevent

Requires unique identification and authentication of users before allowing access to critical functions, directly mitigating CWE-306 in the network-exposed component.

prevent

Restricts authorized users to the minimum necessary privileges, limiting the impact of any authentication bypass on high-privilege CycleCloud operations.

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-03 full match
prevents

Directly requires authentication of users/services/hardware, which eliminates missing authentication for critical functions.

PR.AA-01 partial match
prevents

Managing identities and credentials is a prerequisite for authentication but does not itself enforce it on critical functions.

PR.AA-05 partial match
prevents

Defining and enforcing authorizations assumes prior authentication and therefore only partially mitigates the absence of authentication.

PR.IR-01 partial match
prevents

Protecting networks from unauthorized access can be undermined by missing authentication but does not address the root authentication gap.

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

The control explicitly calls for authentication before any critical function is reached, eliminating the possibility of bypassing authentication for high-value operations.

prevents

Mandating authentication requirements for critical functions at the requirements-gathering stage ensures that essential operations are not left unprotected by missing login or verification mechanisms.

mitigates

Mandating authentication for network services and critical functions stops attackers from invoking sensitive operations without credentials, closing gaps where authentication is absent for important capabilities.

prevents

Security engineering principles insist on authentication and authorization for every critical function, eliminating entry points that lack any access control mechanism.

none

Requiring strong authentication and access-privilege enablement for remote connections ensures that critical functions cannot be invoked without proper verification, closing a gap that would otherwise allow unauthenticated use.

none

Mandatory use of access cards, biometrics, or two-factor authentication ensures that critical physical areas cannot be entered without proper authentication.

References