Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:N/AU:N/R:U/V:C/RE:L/U:AmberSummary
CVE-2026-5944 is a medium-severity Missing Authentication for Critical Function (CWE-306) vulnerability in Cisco Intersight Device Connector. Its CVSS base score is 6.7 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); 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-14 (Permitted Actions Without Identification or Authentication) and AC-24 (Access Control Decisions) — 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-2026-5944 is an improper access control vulnerability in the Cisco Intersight Device Connector for Nutanix Prism Central. The affected component exposes an API passthrough endpoint on TCP port 7373 that is accessible within the network scope of the deployment environment without requiring authentication. This issue, associated with CWEs-306 (Missing Authentication for Critical Function) and CWE-862 (Missing Authorization), carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.2 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H) and was published on April 28, 2026.
An unauthenticated attacker with network access to the exposed endpoint can exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted requests. Exploitation enables enumeration of cluster metadata, including virtual machine information and cluster configuration details. Although the API primarily supports read-only operations, it also permits invocation of certain cluster maintenance workflows, potentially resulting in disruption of active workloads and loss of service availability. The vulnerability does not allow persistent modification of system configurations or access to credentials or sensitive user data.
Nutanix has issued a security advisory detailing the vulnerability, available at https://download.nutanix.com/alerts/Security_Advisory_0046.pdf, along with related documentation on their portal (https://portal.nutanix.com/page/documents/list?type=software&filterKey=software&filterVal=Prism) and support site (https://www.nutanix.com/support). Practitioners should consult these resources for specific mitigation guidance and patch information.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-26048
Vulnerability Data
An improper access control vulnerability exists in the Cisco Intersight Device Connector for Nutanix Prism Central. The service exposes an API passthrough endpoint on TCP port 7373 that is accessible within the network scope of the deployment environment without authentication.…
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An unauthenticated attacker with network access can exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted requests to the exposed endpoint to enumerate cluster metadata, including virtual machine information and cluster configuration details. While the API primarily supports read-only operations, it also allows certain cluster maintenance workflows to be invoked. Although this vulnerability does not allow persistent modification of system configurations or access to credentials or sensitive user data, successful exploitation may result in disruption of active workloads, leading to loss of service availability within the affected environment.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 11 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
V6.2.3V6.4.4V10.4.16V12.1.3
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
AC-3 directly requires enforcement of authorization decisions on every access request, structurally eliminating missing authorization checks.
Directly mandates unique identification and authentication of users before access to functions requiring identity.
Extends the same authentication requirement to non-organizational users accessing critical functionality.
Requires authentication of services before they can invoke or expose critical functions.
Explicitly identifies and limits actions permitted without authentication, preventing critical functions from being exposed.
AC-24 mandates that access control decisions are applied to each request, preventing bypass of authorization logic.
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.
Directly requires authentication of users/services/hardware, which eliminates missing authentication for critical functions.
Explicitly requires defining, enforcing, and reviewing authorizations and least privilege, directly preventing missing authorization checks.
Managing identities and credentials is a prerequisite for authentication but does not itself enforce it on critical functions.
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.
The control explicitly calls for authentication before any critical function is reached, eliminating the possibility of bypassing authentication for high-value operations.
Requiring authentication and credentials before any access occurs eliminates the absence of authorization checks that would otherwise allow an unauthenticated actor to reach protected resources.
Requiring formal authorization of every access request before rights are granted ensures that checks for required permissions are performed, preventing missing authorization checks from being introduced.
Mandatory authorization checks and central records of granted rights ensure that every access attempt is preceded by an explicit decision rather than relying on missing checks.
Segregating the approval of access rights from their implementation provides an independent check that reduces the impact of missing authorization checks in the resulting system configuration.
By requiring competent outsiders to verify that every function enforces the need-to-know principle, the control lowers the likelihood that missing authorization checks persist undetected.
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 (4 rules)
- V-248581 OL 8 must require users to provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
- V-248585 OL 8 must require reauthentication when using the "sudo" command. prevents CWE-306
- V-248827 OL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-306
RHEL 7 (4 rules)
- V-204442 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-306
- V-251704 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
- V-204429 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that users must provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
RHEL 8 (2 rules)
- V-230492 RHEL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-306
- V-237643 RHEL 8 must require re-authentication when using the "sudo" command. prevents CWE-306