CVE-2026-30836 Step CA: Unauthenticated Certificate Issuance via SCEP UpdateReq (MessageType=18)
Attackers can issue certificates without authentication via SCEP UpdateReq, compromising trust in the Step CA system.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-30836?
CVE-2026-30836 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in smallstep certificates, published on 19 Mar 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Step CA is an online certificate authority for secure, automated certificate management for DevOps. Versions 0.30.0-rc6 and below do not safeguard against unauthenticated certificate issuance through the SCEP UpdateReq. This issue has been fixed in version 0.30.0.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-30836?
3 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/smallstep/certificates. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
github.com/smallstep/certificates Go | All versions | 0.30.0 |
github.com/smallstep/certificates Go | All versions | 0.30.0 |
github.com/smallstep/certificates Go | All versions | 0.30.0 |
Products include Smallstep Step-Ca.
How do I fix CVE-2026-30836?
Upgrade github.com/smallstep/certificates to 0.30.0 or later.
Upgrade, and rotate credentials and sessions that may have been exposed. More about Authentication bypass.
Is CVE-2026-30836 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-30836 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in smallstep certificates
Sources
Also known as CLEANSTART-2026-JI14170, CLEANSTART-2026-TM64574, GHSA-q4r8-xm5f-56gw, GO-2026-4775, MINI-2wg4-h9cw-h7wv, MINI-4p7v-22gr-f66j and 1 more.