# CVE-2026-79901: Predictable Active Directory service-account passwords in BoKS Manager

> Attackers can predict Active Directory service-account passwords in BoKS Manager deployments using keytab management, enabling offline verification and potential account takeover.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** 1 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 1 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-v6pf-6px3-6h92

## What is CVE-2026-79901?

CVE-2026-79901 is a critical vulnerability in Fortra BoKS Manager boks-server, published on 1 Oct 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In deployments using BoKS keytab management, affected versions of boks_keytabmd generate Active Directory service-account passwords from a predictable pseudo-random sequence seeded with the current Unix timestamp. An attacker who knows the service principal and can estimate the password-change time can reproduce a limited candidate set and verify candidates offline.

Weakness: CWE-338 (Use of Cryptographically Weak Pseudo-Random Number Generator (PRNG))

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-79901?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-79901?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-79901 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-79901 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-79901 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-79901 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-79901 is a critical vulnerability in Fortra BoKS Manager boks-server, published on 1 Oct 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-2026-79901 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Fortra BoKS Manager boks-server. 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-2026-79901/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-79901/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-79901
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-79901
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-79901

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-79901/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.