# CVE-2026-18573: Keycloak-services: keycloak-services: client access-type policy condition bypass during client update

> Attackers with client management permissions can bypass client access-type policies by updating public clients to confidential ones with weaker authentication.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 2 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** BIT-keycloak-2026-18573, CLEANSTART-2026-KM02072, GHSA-wm3j-jpqg-fwv2

## What is CVE-2026-18573?

CVE-2026-18573 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Redhat Build of Keycloak, published on 2 Aug 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A flaw was found in the keycloak-services component of Keycloak, which is used for managing authentication and authorization flows. The issue occurs when a realm administrator configures client policies to enforce specific authentication requirements on confidential clients. Due to improper evaluation of the client state during an update operation, an attacker with client management permissions can bypass these security policies by first creating a public client and then updating it to a confidential client with weaker authentication. This can result in the persistence of clients that do not comply with the intended security hardening of the realm.

Weakness: CWE-862 (Missing Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-18573?

1 open source package ship an affected version, including keycloak. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `keycloak` | Bitnami | All versions | 26.7.3 |

Products: Redhat Build of Keycloak.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-18573?

Upgrade keycloak to 26.7.3 or later.

## Is CVE-2026-18573 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-18573 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Redhat Build of Keycloak

- [CVE-2026-15572](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-15572/): Keycloak-services: keycloak-services: dcr protocol mapper type-swap policy bypass allows privilege escalation (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2026-3047](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-3047/): Keycloak SAML Broken has Authentication Bypass by Primary Weakness (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2026-15573](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-15573/): Keycloak-services: keycloak-services: authorization bypass via unnormalized uri matching in pathmatcher (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2026-16102](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-16102/): Keycloak-services: keycloak-services: default dcr policy allows role forgery via user property mappers (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2026-1609](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-1609/): Org.keycloak/keycloak-quarkus-server: keycloak: unauthorized access via jwt authorization grant with disabled users (high 8.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-18573 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-18573 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Redhat Build of Keycloak, published on 2 Aug 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-18573 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- keycloak (Bitnami): affected all versions; fixed in 26.7.3

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-2026-18573/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-18573/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-18573
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-18573
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-18573

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-18573/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.