# CVE-2026-90449: Missing Authentication for Critical Function in Malcolm

> Attackers can bypass gateway authentication to access the credential store when a specific authentication mode is configured, potentially compromising the entire deployment.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.9 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/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:** 11 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 2 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-339x-r4hv-hwwx

## What is CVE-2026-90449?

CVE-2026-90449 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in CISA Malcolm, published on 11 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

When a particular authentication mode is configured, the reverse proxy forwards requests for a bundled third-party administrative interface directly to that interface without applying the gateway's own authentication requirement first. All access control for this administrative interface, which manages the credential store used to gate every other service in the deployment, is delegated entirely to that third-party interface's own login mechanism. Any authentication weakness in that bundled interface would compromise the credential store protecting the rest of the deployment.

Weakness: CWE-306 (Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-90449?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-90449?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-90449 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-90449 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-90449 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-90449 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-90449 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in CISA Malcolm, published on 11 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-2026-90449 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: CISA Malcolm. 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-2026-90449/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-90449/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-90449
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-90449
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-90449

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-90449/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.