# CVE-2026-23896: immich API Key Privilege Escalation vulnerability

> Low-privilege API keys can escalate to full administrative access by calling the update endpoint in immich.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 29 Jan 2026
- **Updated:** 29 Jan 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-237r-x578-h5mv

## What is CVE-2026-23896?

CVE-2026-23896 is a high-severity vulnerability in immich-app immich, published on 29 Jan 2026. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

immich is a high performance self-hosted photo and video management solution. Prior to version 2.5.0, API keys can escalate their own permissions by calling the update endpoint, allowing a low-privilege API key to grant itself full administrative access to the system. Version 2.5.0 fixes the issue.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23896?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Futo Immich.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23896?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-23896 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-23896 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-23896 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in immich-app immich

- [CVE-2026-35455](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-35455/): immich has Stored XSS via OCR Text in 360° Panorama Viewer (high 7.3)
- [CVE-2026-25118](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-25118/): Information disclosure in immich (medium 6.3)
- [CVE-2026-40096](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-40096/): immich: Open Redirect via Shared Album name (medium 5.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-23896 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23896 is a high-severity vulnerability in immich-app immich, published on 29 Jan 2026. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-23896 exists.

Affected product: immich-app immich. 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-2026-23896/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23896/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23896
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23896
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23896

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23896/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.