# CVE-2026-44592: Gradient: Unauthenticated worker on /proto → arbitrary NAR write / cache poisoning

> Unauthenticated attackers can register as workers to view all jobs and inject arbitrary data into the cache, compromising CI integrity.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 14 May 2026
- **Updated:** 16 May 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-49w6-gf3p-96m2

## What is CVE-2026-44592?

CVE-2026-44592 is a critical missing authorization vulnerability in wavelens gradient, published on 14 May 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Gradient is a nix-based continuous integration system. In 1.1.0, when GRADIENT_DISCOVERABLE=true (the default, and the NixOS module default), anyone who can reach /proto can register as a worker without any credentials by sending a fresh, never-registered worker UUID. The resulting session has PeerAuth::Open, i.e. it sees jobs from every organisation, and can immediately NarPush/NarUploaded arbitrary store paths into nar_storage and the cached_path table. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.1.1.

Weakness: CWE-862 (Missing Authorization), CWE-345 (Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity), CWE-306 (Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-44592?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-44592?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-44592 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-44592 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-44592 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-44592 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-44592 is a critical missing authorization vulnerability in wavelens gradient, published on 14 May 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-44592 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: wavelens gradient. 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-2026-44592/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44592/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-44592
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-44592
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-44592

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44592/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.