CVE-2026-42018: JFrog Artifactory leaks internal anonymous-user token to unauthenticated callers

Exploited in the wild High 7.5 EPSS 9.8%

JFrog Artifactory can return an internal anonymous-user token to an unauthenticated caller even when anonymous access is disabled, exposing resources available to that identity. Wiz Research observed attackers using it from August 15, 2026 together with CVE-2026-42016 to obtain an admin-scoped token, create persistent admin accounts and install backdoors. JFrog fixed it in 7.111.20, 7.117.27, 7.125.19, 7.133.28 and 7.146.8, and CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-09-11 as exploited in the wild.

CVE-2026-42018CVE identifier
7.5CVSS 3.1 base score (high)
2026-09-11added to CISA's exploited list (US federal deadline 2026-09-25)
9.8%EPSS: chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (higher than 96% of CVEs)
2026-08-12published

What do these terms mean? CVE · CVSS score · exploited (KEV) · EPSS · backported fix · all terms

What to do now

Check whether you run the affected software and which version (commands below).
Install the fixed version for your system: see “Patch it” below.
Artifactory is unavailable during the upgrade on a single node; HA clusters can be upgraded one node at a time. On first start after the upgrade Artifactory may run database converters. Note that 7.111.x, 7.117.x and 7.125.x releases are still below 7.133.11 and remain affected by CVE-2026-42016, which attackers chain with this flaw.
Because this flaw is being exploited, also check the server for signs of compromise.

Affected and fixed versions

Affected:

JFrog Artifactory before 7.111.20
JFrog Artifactory 7.117.0 before 7.117.27
JFrog Artifactory 7.125.0 before 7.125.19
JFrog Artifactory 7.133.0 before 7.133.28
JFrog Artifactory 7.146.0 before 7.146.8

Fixed in:

JFrog Artifactory 7.111.20
JFrog Artifactory 7.117.27
JFrog Artifactory 7.125.19
JFrog Artifactory 7.133.28
JFrog Artifactory 7.146.8

Am I affected?

curl -s -u <user>:<password-or-token> http://<artifactory-host>:8082/artifactory/api/system/version
dpkg -l jfrog-artifactory-pro | grep ^ii
rpm -q jfrog-artifactory-pro

Patch it

Use the commands for your system. Distribution packages often keep an older version number with the fix backported, so compare with the fixed package versions in the table below, not only with the upstream version.

Debian

# 7.146.38 (or 7.161.20 on the 7.161.x branch) fixes CVE-2026-42016, -42018, -66384 and -82329
sudo systemctl stop artifactory.service
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install jfrog-artifactory-pro=7.146.38
sudo systemctl start artifactory.service

Ubuntu

# 7.146.38 (or 7.161.20 on the 7.161.x branch) fixes CVE-2026-42016, -42018, -66384 and -82329
sudo systemctl stop artifactory.service
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install jfrog-artifactory-pro=7.146.38
sudo systemctl start artifactory.service

RHEL, AlmaLinux, Rocky, Oracle

# 7.146.38 (or 7.161.20 on the 7.161.x branch) fixes CVE-2026-42016, -42018, -66384 and -82329
sudo systemctl stop artifactory.service
sudo dnf install jfrog-artifactory-pro-7.146.38
sudo systemctl start artifactory.service

Docker images

# 7.146.38 (or 7.161.20) fixes CVE-2026-42016, -42018, -66384 and -82329; use artifactory-oss / artifactory-cpp-ce for those editions
docker stop artifactory
docker rm -f artifactory
export ARTIFACTORY_HOME=<mount path of your current Artifactory data directory>
docker run --name artifactory -v $ARTIFACTORY_HOME:/var/opt/jfrog/artifactory -d -p 8081:8081 -p 8082:8082 releases-docker.jfrog.io/jfrog/artifactory-pro:7.146.38

General update steps for every system are on the Linux and Unix & BSD pages; after updating, see which services to restart.

Look for signs of exploitation

Wiz Research: unauthenticated POST /access/api/v1/aws/token/ (with a trailing slash) returning HTTP 200; the highest-confidence signature is a 401 on the bare path followed shortly by a 200 on a variant of it from the same client. In observed attacks this was followed by POST /access/api/v1/tokens (200) and PUT /api/security/users/<username> or /access/api/ui/users/<username> (201).
Wiz Research: after exploitation look for unexpected admin users (e.g. Nxploited_*, labadmin_<hex>, 0xTerror, svc_*, or plausible names such as jfrog-distribution, jfrog-insight, repo-service), Groovy user plugins in $JFROG_HOME/var/etc/artifactory/plugins/ (seen: rce.groovy, cmd.groovy, jwtToken.groovy, uploadFile.groovy, JFrogImage.groovy, metrics.groovy, httpSession.groovy) called via /artifactory/api/plugins/execute/<name>, payloads in /dev/shm, /tmp or /var/tmp, and truncated request*.log files. Plugins and admin users survive upgrades; if found, also reset the Access token signing key because stolen keys let attackers mint valid tokens.

CISA required action: Apply mitigations in accordance with vendor instructions, ensuring compliance with CISA’s BOD 26-04 Prioritizing Security Updates Based on Risk (see URL in Notes) guidance and CISA’s “Forensics Triage Requirements” (see URL in Notes). Follow applicable BOD 26-04 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. Stakeholders are responsible for evaluating each asset's internet exposure and ensuring adherence to BOD 26-04 patching guidelines.

https://docs.jfrog.com/releases/docs/jfrog-security-advisories ; https://docs.jfrog.com/releases/docs/artifactory-self-managed-releases ; BOD 26-04: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-26-04-prioritizing-security-updates-based-risk ; Forensics Triage Requirements: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-26-04-implementation-guidance-prioritizing-security-updates-based-risk ; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42018

Related vulnerabilities

Sources

Page generated automatically from official sources on 2026-11-03 18:05 UTC and reviewed by an editor. Always confirm with your vendor's advisory.