# CVE-2026-12196: HestiaCP Admin Takeover

> Low-privilege users can exploit broken access control in the cronjob feature to execute scripts with sudo, leading to administrator takeover.

- **Severity:** High 8.3 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/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:** 4 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 6 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-w5xj-cqgx-j5qj

## What is CVE-2026-12196?

CVE-2026-12196 is a high-severity vulnerability in hestiacp, published on 4 Jul 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

HestiaCP panel cronjob feature is affected by a broken access control vulnerability. Low privilege users can modify the panel cronjob to execute scripts HestiaCP management scripts with passwordless sudo. This could result in the takeover of administrator users in the application and the underlying webserver.

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-12196?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-12196?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-12196 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-12196 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-12196 exists.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-12196 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-12196 is a high-severity vulnerability in hestiacp, published on 4 Jul 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-2026-12196 exists.

Affected product: hestiacp. 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-2026-12196/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-12196/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-12196
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-12196
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-12196

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-12196/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.