# CVE-2026-84461: Zammad: Missing rate limiting allows password brute-forcing during two-factor login

> Attackers can brute-force passwords during two-factor login due to missing rate limiting, potentially taking over accounts.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.9 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 25 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 25 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6vh5-pfp2-5rmh

## What is CVE-2026-84461?

CVE-2026-84461 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in zammad, published on 25 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Zammad is a web based open source helpdesk/customer support system. Prior to 7.1.2, the two-factor login step let an attacker try unlimited password guesses for any account without triggering Zammad's normal lockout or rate limiting. The response also revealed whether a guess was correct, even before two-factor authentication was checked. This made it possible to brute-force weak or reused passwords. This issue is fixed in version 7.1.2.

Weakness: CWE-799 (Improper Control of Interaction Frequency), CWE-307 (Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts), CWE-203 (Observable Discrepancy)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-84461?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-84461?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-84461 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-84461 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-84461 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-84461 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-84461 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in zammad, published on 25 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-84461 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: zammad. 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-2026-84461/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-84461/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-84461
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-84461
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-84461

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-84461/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.