# CVE-2026-44553: Open WebUI: Stale Admin Role in Socket.IO Session Pool Enables Post-Demotion Cross-User Note Access

> Revoked admins retain privileges in active Socket.IO sessions, allowing unauthorized access to other users' notes until the connection closes.

- **Severity:** High 8.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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:** 15 May 2026
- **Updated:** 19 May 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-45m8-cpm2-3v65, PYSEC-2026-2697

## What is CVE-2026-44553?

CVE-2026-44553 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Openwebui Open Webui, published on 15 May 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Open WebUI is a self-hosted artificial intelligence platform designed to operate entirely offline. Prior to 0.9.0, administrative role changes and user deletions do not iterate SESSION_POOL to disconnect affected sessions. As a result, a user whose admin role has been revoked retains admin privileges within their existing Socket.IO session for as long as they keep the connection alive (via automatic heartbeats). The gap is exclusive to the Socket.IO session cache. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.0.

Weakness: CWE-613 (DEPRECATED: Insufficient Session Expiration)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-44553?

3 open source packages ship an affected version, including open-webui. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `open-webui` | PyPI | All versions | 0.9.0 |
| `open-webui` | PyPI | All versions | 0.9.0 |
| `open-webui` | PyPI | All versions | 0.9.0 |

Products: Openwebui Open Webui.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-44553?

Upgrade open-webui to 0.9.0 or later.

## Is CVE-2026-44553 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-44553 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Openwebui Open Webui

- [CVE-2026-44551](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44551/): Open WebUI: LDAP Empty Password Authentication Bypass (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2026-56400](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-56400/): open-webui - Remote Code Execution via CORS Misconfiguration and Session Validation (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2024-8017](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-8017/): Cross-site Scripting (XSS) in open-webui/open-webui (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2026-45672](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45672/): Open WebUI: Jupyter code execution works despite `ENABLE_CODE_EXECUTION=false` — feature gate bypassed (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2026-87995](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-87995/): Open WebUI: Same-origin XSS to account takeover via terminal port-preview iframe hardcoding allow-same-origin (high 8.7)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-44553 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-44553 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Openwebui Open Webui, published on 15 May 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-2026-44553 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- open-webui (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 0.9.0
- open-webui (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 0.9.0
- open-webui (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 0.9.0

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-2026-44553/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44553/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-44553
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-44553
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-44553

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44553/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.