CVE-2026-27886 Strapi may leak sensitive data via relational filtering due to lack of query sanitization
Unauthenticated attackers can extract admin reset tokens via relational filtering, enabling full administrative account takeover in Strapi.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-27886?
CVE-2026-27886 is a critical vulnerability in strapi, published on 14 May 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Strapi is an open source headless content management system. Strapi versions starting in 4.0.0 and prior to 5.37.0 did not sufficiently sanitize query parameters when filtering content via relational fields. An unauthenticated attacker could use the `where` query parameter on any publicly-accessible content-type with an `updatedBy` (or other admin-relation) field to perform a boolean-oracle attack against private fields on the joined `admin_users` table, including the `resetPasswordToken` field. Extracting an admin reset token via this oracle made full administrative account takeover possible without authentication. When a filter such as `where[updatedBy][resetPasswordToken][$startsWith]=a` was applied to a public Content API endpoint, the underlying query generation performed a `LEFT JOIN` against the `admin_users` table and emitted a `WHERE` clause referencing the joined column. The query parameter sanitization layer did not block operator chains that traversed into relational target schemas the caller had no read permission on, allowing the response count to be used as a one-bit oracle on any admin-table field. The patch in version 5.37.0 introduces explicit query-parameter sanitization at the controller and service boundary via three new primitives: `strictParam`, `addQueryParams`, and `addBodyParams`. Operator chains that traverse into restricted relational targets are now rejected before reaching the database.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-27886?
2 open source packages ship an affected version, including @strapi/strapi. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
@strapi/strapi npm | From 4.0.0 | 5.37.0 |
@strapi/strapi npm | From 4.0.0 | 5.37.0 |
Products include Strapi Strapi.
How do I fix CVE-2026-27886?
Upgrade @strapi/strapi to 5.37.0 or later.
Is CVE-2026-27886 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-27886 exists.
Public exploit code: 1 Nuclei template and 3 proofs of concept on GitHub.
Other vulnerabilities in strapi
- CVE-2023-22894 Strapi Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information
- CVE-2023-22621 Strapi plugins vulnerable to Server-Side Template Injection and Remote Code Execution in the Users-Permissions Plugin
- CVE-2022-27263 Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type in Strapi
- CVE-2020-27664 Authorization bypass in Strapi
- CVE-2019-18818 Strapi allows unauthenticated attacker to reset admin password without valid reset token
Sources
Also known as GHSA-rjg2-95x7-8qmx.