# CVE-2026-73405: Authorization Bypass in SSE Pub/Sub Allows Unconfirmed Accounts to Access Stream Events in vulnerability-lookup

> Attackers with unconfirmed accounts can access restricted SSE streams, exposing unmoderated data due to missing active status checks.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/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:** 12 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 12 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8gv5-4q99-4cxm

## What is CVE-2026-73405?

CVE-2026-73405 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in vulnerability-lookup, published on 12 Aug 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An authorization bypass vulnerability in Vulnerability-Lookup allowed inactive or unconfirmed accounts to subscribe to Server-Sent Events (SSE) streams through the /pubsub/subscribe/<topic> endpoint.

The token_required decorator used by the Pub/Sub interface authenticated requests solely by matching the X-API-KEY header against an existing user API key. Unlike the REST API authentication mechanism, it did not verify the account's is_active and is_confirmed state.

Because the self-registration process issues an API key before account confirmation is completed, an attacker could create an account and immediately use the resulting API key to access Pub/Sub topics that should only be available to active, confirmed users. This could expose stream events that would otherwise be inaccessible through the REST API, including newly submitted or not-yet-moderated data such as comments.

The vulnerability results from inconsistent authorization enforcement between the REST API and the SSE streaming interface.

The patch corrects the issue by requiring accounts to be both active and confirmed before permitting access to Pub/Sub streams, bringing the SSE authorization boundary in line with the REST API.

Weakness: CWE-862 (Missing Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-73405?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-73405?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-73405 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-73405 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-73405 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-73405 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-73405 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in vulnerability-lookup, published on 12 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-2026-73405 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: vulnerability-lookup. 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-2026-73405/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-73405/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-73405
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-73405
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-73405

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-73405/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.