# CVE-2026-70488: Open WebUI: Deletion of directories and file embeddings in other knowledge bases via sync cleanup

> Users with write access to one knowledge base can delete directories and embeddings in other knowledge bases due to missing ownership checks.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 4 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jxc9-xmc4-gr23, PYSEC-2026-3648

## What is CVE-2026-70488?

CVE-2026-70488 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Openwebui Open Webui, published on 4 Aug 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Open WebUI is an extensible, feature-rich, and user-friendly self-hosted AI platform. From 0.9.6 until 0.11.0, the sync cleanup endpoint authorized write access to the knowledge base in the URL but then acted on directory and file ids supplied in the request body without checking that those objects belonged to that knowledge base. A user with write access to one knowledge base could delete directories and remove file embeddings from another knowledge base, causing documents to drop out of retrieval results and breaking chat-with-file for targeted documents without disclosing contents. This issue is fixed in 0.11.0.

Weakness: CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization), CWE-639 (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-70488?

3 open source packages ship an affected version, including open-webui. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `open-webui` | PyPI | From 0.9.6 | 0.11.0 |
| `open-webui` | PyPI | From 0.9.6 | 0.11.0 |
| `open-webui` | PyPI | From 0.9.6 | 0.11.0 |

Products: Openwebui Open Webui.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-70488?

Upgrade open-webui to 0.11.0 or later.

## Is CVE-2026-70488 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-70488 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Openwebui Open Webui

- [CVE-2026-44551](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44551/): Open WebUI: LDAP Empty Password Authentication Bypass (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2026-56400](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-56400/): open-webui - Remote Code Execution via CORS Misconfiguration and Session Validation (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2024-8017](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-8017/): Cross-site Scripting (XSS) in open-webui/open-webui (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2026-45672](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45672/): Open WebUI: Jupyter code execution works despite `ENABLE_CODE_EXECUTION=false` — feature gate bypassed (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2026-87995](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-87995/): Open WebUI: Same-origin XSS to account takeover via terminal port-preview iframe hardcoding allow-same-origin (high 8.7)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-70488 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-70488 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Openwebui Open Webui, published on 4 Aug 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-70488 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- open-webui (PyPI): affected from 0.9.6; fixed in 0.11.0
- open-webui (PyPI): affected from 0.9.6; fixed in 0.11.0
- open-webui (PyPI): affected from 0.9.6; fixed in 0.11.0

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-2026-70488/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-70488/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-70488
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-70488
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-70488

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-70488/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.