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CVE-2026-61466 – OAuth2 Privilege Escalation via Missing Scope Validation – Apache CXF before 3.6.12

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Summary

CVE-2026-61466 is a critical privilege-escalation vulnerability in the OAuth2 Dynamic Client Registration endpoint of Apache CXF (org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-rs-security-oauth2). The endpoint fails to validate the requested scope parameter against an allowlist of predefined authorization scopes, allowing a client to self-assign elevated privileges during registration. It carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.1 (Critical).

Technical details

  • Root cause: The authorization server accepts and stores scope values verbatim from client registration requests without enforcing compliance with predefined authorization scopes (CWE-304: Missing Critical Step in Authentication).
  • Trigger conditions: An attacker sends a request to the OAuth2 Dynamic Client Registration endpoint specifying arbitrary, elevated scopes.
  • Attack vector: Network-accessible, low attack complexity, no privileges and no user interaction required (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N).
  • Impact: A client can register with elevated privileges it should not be granted, resulting in high impact to confidentiality and availability.

Affected software

  • Apache CXF versions before 3.6.12 (fixed in 3.6.12)
  • Apache CXF versions 4.0.0 through 4.1.7 (fixed in 4.1.8)
  • Apache CXF versions 4.2.0 through 4.2.2 (fixed in 4.2.3)

Severity

  • CVSS v3.1 base score: 9.1 (Critical)
  • Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H

Mitigation and recommended actions

  • Immediate: Upgrade to a fixed release — 3.6.12, 4.1.8, or 4.2.3 — matching your current branch.
  • If no patch: Restrict or disable the OAuth2 Dynamic Client Registration endpoint, and place the authorization server behind network controls that limit registration requests to trusted callers until the upgrade can be applied.

How IONIX identifies potentially affected assets

IONIX matches the following signals against data already collected when it crawled the asset; identifying the technology sends no request beyond that crawl.

  • Page title: CXF - Service list

References

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