CVE-2026-124738 Busybox: httpd password rule bypass for pre-compressed .gz files via accept-encoding: gzip
Remote attackers can bypass BusyBox httpd password rules by requesting uncompressed files with gzip encoding, exposing sensitive files.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Harmful if only installed
- No
- Needs a specific call
- No
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-124738?
CVE-2026-124738 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, published on 11 Nov 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
A flaw was found in BusyBox. When the HTTP daemon (httpd) has pre-compressed file support enabled, authentication checks are evaluated only against the requested URL path rather than the pre-compressed file being served. A remote attacker can exploit this flaw by requesting an uncompressed file path while specifying gzip encoding, bypassing password rules configured specifically for the compressed file. This vulnerability can lead to unauthorized information disclosure of sensitive files.
Weakness: CWE-288
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-124738?
Only installations with a non-default setting turned on are exposed.
How do I fix CVE-2026-124738?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-124738 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and rotate credentials and sessions that may have been exposed. More about Authentication bypass.
Is CVE-2026-124738 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-124738 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-mrxw-pq69-7j5x, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-124738.