# CVE-2026-86522: Log injection via an unescaped password reset identity in AshAuthentication

> An unauthenticated attacker can forge application log entries by injecting newlines into password reset identities, potentially misleading security monitoring.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.3 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:L/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 17 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** EEF-CVE-2026-86522, GHSA-wg7g-r393-vr3g

## What is CVE-2026-86522?

CVE-2026-86522 is a medium-severity vulnerability in team-alembic ash_authentication, published on 17 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Improper Output Neutralization for Logs vulnerability in team-alembic AshAuthentication allows an unauthenticated attacker to forge application log entries by submitting a password reset identity containing newlines or control characters.

AshAuthentication.Strategy.Password.RequestPasswordReset.run/3 interpolates the identity argument, the email or username taken straight from the reset request, into its Logger.warning/1 heredocs without escaping, truncating or type-restricting it. The resource logged beside it is passed through inspect/1, which would have neutralized the value. A newline in the identity therefore ends the log record, and everything after it is written as a line of its own, so an attacker chooses the severity tag and the content of entries that appear to have come from the application.

This issue affects ash_authentication: from 4.2.0 before 4.15.0 and from 5.0.0-rc.0 before 5.0.0-rc.14.

Weakness: CWE-117 (Improper Output Neutralization for Logs)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-86522?

1 open source package ship an affected version, including ash_authentication.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `ash_authentication` | Hex | From 4.2.0 | 4.15.0, 5.0.0-rc.14 |

## How do I fix CVE-2026-86522?

Upgrade ash_authentication to a fixed version for your release line: 4.15.0 or 5.0.0-rc.14.

## Is CVE-2026-86522 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-86522 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-86522 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-86522 is a medium-severity vulnerability in team-alembic ash_authentication, published on 17 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-2026-86522 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- ash_authentication (Hex): affected from 4.2.0; fixed in 4.15.0, 5.0.0-rc.14

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-2026-86522/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-86522/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-86522
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-86522
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-86522

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-86522/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.