# CVE-2026-45041: RustFS: Hard-coded RSA private key in license verifier permits arbitrary license forgery

> Attackers can forge arbitrary license tokens using a hardcoded RSA private key, bypassing license enforcement in RustFS when the license feature is enabled.

- **Severity:** High 8.7 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 28 May 2026
- **Updated:** 29 May 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-923g-jp7v-f97f

## What is CVE-2026-45041?

CVE-2026-45041 is a high-severity vulnerability in rustfs, published on 28 May 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

RustFS is a distributed object storage system built in Rust. Prior to 1.0.0-beta.2, crates/appauth/src/token.rs ships a 2048-bit RSA private key as a string constant named TEST_PRIVATE_KEY and uses it in production via parse_license() to "verify" license tokens. Because the key is embedded in every published source release and binary, anyone who can read the repository or extract it from the binary can mint arbitrary license tokens (any subject, any expiration). When the license Cargo feature is enabled, this defeats the entire license-enforcement mechanism. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.0.0-beta.2.

Weakness: CWE-321 (Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-45041?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-45041?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-45041 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-45041 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-45041 exists.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-45041 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-45041 is a high-severity vulnerability in rustfs, published on 28 May 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-45041 exists.

Affected product: rustfs. 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-2026-45041/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45041/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-45041
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-45041
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-45041

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45041/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.