CVE-2026-84731 Pre-Authentication Admin Bypass and Remote Code Execution in Nutanix Prism Gateway inside AOS
Unauthenticated attackers can bypass authentication via crafted headers to gain admin access and execute root commands on Nutanix clusters.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-84731?
CVE-2026-84731 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Nutanix Acropolis Operating System (AOS), published on 15 Oct 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
An unauthenticated remote attacker can bypass authentication and gain full access to administrative API endpoints in Nutanix Prism Element by including a crafted internal management HTTP header. The vulnerability is caused by a misconfiguration in the application's authentication filters.
Consequently, the server responds with a Set-Cookie header containing a valid JSESSIONID. This session cookie decodes to a JSON Web Token (JWT) granting maximum cluster administrative privileges. Successful exploitation allows the attacker to execute root-level commands on all Controller VMs (CVMs) in the cluster, leading to complete cluster destruction and unauthorized access to VM memory and virtual disks.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-84731?
How do I fix CVE-2026-84731?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-84731 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and rotate credentials and sessions that may have been exposed. More about Authentication bypass.
Is CVE-2026-84731 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-84731 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-rj7h-w2v7-v863.