# CVE-2026-44986: Penpot: Pre-authenticated account takeover via team-invitation token + prepare-register-profile

> Attackers can take over any user account by exploiting invitation token flaws and missing password verification during profile registration.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 15 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 15 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4937-35vc-hqjj

## What is CVE-2026-44986?

CVE-2026-44986 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in penpot, published on 15 Jul 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Penpot is an open-source design tool for design and code collaboration. Prior to 2.14.5, Penpot exposed teams_invitations.clj invitation tokens from create-team-invitations, embedded an existing profile id in auth.clj prepare-register-profile, and had auth.clj register-profile issue a session based on the invitation email match without password verification, allowing a registered user to take over any non-blocked profile. This issue is fixed in version 2.14.5.

Weakness: CWE-639 (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key), CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-44986?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-44986?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-44986 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-44986 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-44986 exists.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-44986 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-44986 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in penpot, published on 15 Jul 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-44986 exists.

Affected product: penpot. 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-2026-44986/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44986/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-44986
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-44986
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-44986

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44986/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.