# CVE-2026-45336: HireFlow: Use of Hard-coded Credentials

> Attackers can forge admin session cookies using a hard-coded secret key to bypass authentication and gain administrative access.

- **Severity:** Critical 10.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 16 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 17 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-x53g-jr84-jrv5

## What is CVE-2026-45336?

CVE-2026-45336 is a critical vulnerability in StratonWebDesigners HireFlow, published on 16 Jul 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

HireFlow is a web-based interview management system for managing candidates, scheduling interviews, and tracking hiring progress. In 1.2 and earlier, app.py assigns a hard-coded Flask secret_key used to sign session cookies, allowing unauthenticated attackers who know the public source value to forge cookies containing role=admin and user_id values and bypass authentication. The advisory lists version 1.3 as fixed.

Weakness: CWE-798 (Use of Hard-coded Credentials)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-45336?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-45336?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-45336 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-45336 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-45336 exists.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-45336 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-45336 is a critical vulnerability in StratonWebDesigners HireFlow, published on 16 Jul 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-2026-45336 exists.

Affected product: StratonWebDesigners HireFlow. 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-2026-45336/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45336/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-45336
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-45336
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-45336

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45336/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.