# CVE-2026-45273: MyBooks: Privilege Escalation via Missing Authorization on Admin Settings Endpoint

> Authenticated users can modify admin settings due to missing authorization checks, enabling privilege escalation and secret disclosure in MyBooks.

- **Severity:** High 8.7 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **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:** 19 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-354j-9hx8-3p45

## What is CVE-2026-45273?

CVE-2026-45273 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in PoxenStudio talebook, published on 19 Aug 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

MyBooks is an ebook management web server also known as Talebook. In 3.41.2 and earlier, the AdminSettings.post handler for POST /api/admin/settings in webserver/handlers/admin.py applies the auth decorator but does not check the self.admin_user property, unlike the corresponding GET handler. Any authenticated regular user can therefore overwrite server configuration values including SMTP credentials, OAuth client secrets, storage paths, security feature flags, and autoreload settings. The process_auth_header function in webserver/handlers/base.py also fails to verify the matched account's active flag, allowing a registered but unactivated account to authenticate and reach the vulnerable handler. Exploitation can disclose secrets through configuration access paths, sabotage application behavior, force service restarts, and supply the settings needed for related code-injection attacks. This issue is fixed in version 3.42.0.

Weakness: CWE-862 (Missing Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-45273?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-45273?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-45273 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-45273 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-45273 exists.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-45273 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-45273 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in PoxenStudio talebook, published on 19 Aug 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-2026-45273 exists.

Affected product: PoxenStudio talebook. 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-2026-45273/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45273/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-45273
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-45273
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-45273

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45273/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.