# CVE-2026-96652: Plex Media Server Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)

> An attacker can force the Plex Media Server to send POST requests to arbitrary destinations via the timeline endpoint, potentially accessing internal resources.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Yes, since 20 Oct 2026 (CISA KEV)
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 23 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-5p7w-r379-3c2m

## What is CVE-2026-96652?

CVE-2026-96652 is a medium-severity server-side request forgery vulnerability in Plex Media Server, published on 23 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Plex Media Server before 1.43.3.10861 allows SSRF via '/player/timeline'. An attacker using any X-Plex-Token value can include a full URL in the 'protocol' parameter and force the Plex server to POST to the attacker's chosen destination.

Weakness: CWE-918 (Server-Side Request Forgery)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-96652?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Plex Media Server.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-96652?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-96652 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available. US federal agencies must fix it by 3 Nov 2026.

## Is CVE-2026-96652 being exploited?

Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2026-96652 in the wild since at least 20 Oct 2026.

Public exploit code:

- CVE-2026-96652 CVE-2026-96654 CVE-2026-96655 CVE-2026-96656 (github_poc): https://github.com/code-zm/plex2shell
- Read-only Linux check for Plex2Shell (CVE-2026-96652/-96654/-96655/-96656) exploitation and the XMRig/proxy payloads seen in the wild (github_poc): https://github.com/ChrisLPJones/plex2shell-check
- CVE-2026-96652 CVE-2026-96654 CVE-2026-96655 CVE-2026-96656 (github_poc): https://github.com/gmh5225/plex2shell
- Plex2Shell (CVE-2026-96652/54/55/56) IOC/IOA dossier and read-only Windows hunt script (github_poc): https://github.com/w116tjb/plex2shell-windows-hunt
- PoC and verification material for CVE-2026-96652 (Plex Media Server timeline SSRF, owner-token disclosure chain) (github_poc): https://github.com/basesixtythree/B63-POC-CVE-2026-96652
- Quick Plex2Shell (CVE-2026-96652) exposure & version check — is your Plex Media Server patched (1.43.3.10861+)? (github_poc): https://github.com/TheGlitchFixer/plex2shell-check

## Other vulnerabilities in Plex Media Server

- [CVE-2026-96656](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-96656/): Plex Media Server External Control of File Name or Path (high 8.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-5741](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5741/): Plex Media Server Remote Code Execution (high 7.2, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-96654](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-96654/): Plex Media Server Improper Neutralization of Encoded URI Schemes in a Web Page (medium 6.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-96655](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-96655/): Plex Media Server Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) (medium 5.3, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-13415](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-13415/): XML external entity in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-96652 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-96652 is a medium-severity server-side request forgery vulnerability in Plex Media Server, published on 23 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2026-96652 in the wild since at least 20 Oct 2026.

Affected product: Plex Media 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-2026-96652/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-96652/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-96652
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-96652
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-96652

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-96652/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.