# CVE-2016-20034: Wowza Streaming Engine 4.5.0 Privilege Escalation via user edit

> Authenticated read-only users can escalate to administrator privileges by manipulating POST parameters in the user edit endpoint.

- **Severity:** High 8.7 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 15 Mar 2026
- **Updated:** 16 Mar 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6rxf-g628-g4p6

## What is CVE-2016-20034?

CVE-2016-20034 is a high-severity vulnerability in Wowza Streaming Engine, published on 15 Mar 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Wowza Streaming Engine 4.5.0 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability that allows authenticated read-only users to elevate privileges to administrator by manipulating POST parameters. Attackers can send POST requests to the user edit endpoint with accessLevel set to 'admin' and advUser parameters set to 'true' and 'on' to gain administrative access.

Weakness: CWE-352 (Cross-Site Request Forgery)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-20034?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Wowza Streaming Engine.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-20034?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-20034 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-20034 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2016-20034 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in Wowza Streaming Engine

- [CVE-2018-7047](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7047/): Hardcoded credentials in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-52052](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-52052/): Stream Target Remote Code Execution in Wowza Streaming Engine (critical 9.4)
- [CVE-2018-19365](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-19365/): Path traversal in n/a (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2020-9004](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-9004/): Auth bypass in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2024-52053](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-52053/): Stored Cross-Site Scripting in Wowza Streaming Engine (high 8.7)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-20034 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-20034 is a high-severity vulnerability in Wowza Streaming Engine, published on 15 Mar 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2016-20034 exists.

Affected product: Wowza Streaming Engine. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-20034/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-20034/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-20034
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-20034
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-20034

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-20034/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.