Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-58211

Access Control in Linuxfoundation Nats-Server 2.12.0 – 2.12.12

Published
08 July 2026
Modified
09 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.4
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0021 11th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-58211 is a medium-severity Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863) vulnerability in Linuxfoundation Nats-Server. Its CVSS base score is 5.4 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Valid Accounts (T1078); ranked at the 11th 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

NATS Server is a high-performance server for NATS.io, the cloud and edge native messaging system. Prior to 2.14.3 and 2.12.12, a client could be registered as the configured no_auth_user through a parser path used when the first client operation was…

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not CONNECT, bypassing user-level connection restrictions such as allowed_connection_types or proxy_required that normal authentication would apply. This issue is fixed in versions 2.14.3 and 2.12.12.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1078 Valid Accounts Stealth
Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of existing accounts as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion.
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.
Why these techniques?

The vulnerability allows an unauthenticated client to register as the configured no_auth_user by exploiting a parser path when the first operation is not CONNECT, bypassing authentication restrictions. This directly enables T1078 (Valid Accounts) by impersonating a legitimate account and T1190 (Exploit Public-Facing Application) as NATS Server is a network-facing messaging service.

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-58254Same product: Linuxfoundation Nats-Server
CVE-2026-58209Same product: Linuxfoundation Nats-Server
CVE-2026-58214Same product: Linuxfoundation Nats-Server
CVE-2026-33249Same product: Linuxfoundation Nats-Server
CVE-2023-47090Same product: Linuxfoundation Nats-Server
CVE-2026-33217Same product: Linuxfoundation Nats-Server
CVE-2026-33215Same product: Linuxfoundation Nats-Server
CVE-2026-33248Same product: Linuxfoundation Nats-Server
CVE-2026-58213Same product: Linuxfoundation Nats-Server
CVE-2026-58252Same product: Linuxfoundation Nats-Server

Affected Assets

linuxfoundation
nats-server
2.12.0 — 2.12.12 · 2.14.0 — 2.14.3

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • IA-2 Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)
  • SC-7 Boundary Protection
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

prevent

Enforces that every client connection is subject to the configured authentication and authorization rules, blocking the bypass of no_auth_user restrictions.

prevent

Requires identification and authentication of every organizational user before granting access, eliminating the parser-path that allowed unauthenticated registration as no_auth_user.

prevent

Boundary-protection mechanisms can be configured to reject or isolate connections that do not present a valid CONNECT frame, limiting exposure to the vulnerable parser path.

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.

References