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CVE-2026-76338 – Authentication Bypass / Admin Token Forgery – Splunk Enterprise 9.4–10.4

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Summary

CVE-2026-76338 is an improper authentication vulnerability (CWE-287) affecting Splunk Enterprise. An unauthenticated attacker with access to a trusted distributed search private key can forge an administrative session token via the REST API’s distributed search authentication endpoint. The issue carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1 (High) and can lead to full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Technical details

  • Root cause: The distributed search authentication token endpoint does not require a signed request to identify a configured search peer, and instead falls back to shared local cryptographic key material.
  • Trigger condition: An attacker must have access to a trusted distributed search private key; no valid Splunk user credentials or session are otherwise required.
  • Attack vector: Network (AV:N), high attack complexity (AC:H), no privileges required (PR:N), no user interaction (UI:N).
  • Impact: Successful exploitation allows forging an administrative session token, which can be used to access all relevant data, alter system integrity, and disrupt service availability (C:H/I:H/A:H).

Affected software

  • Splunk Enterprise 10.4.x — versions below 10.4.2
  • Splunk Enterprise 10.2.x — versions below 10.2.6
  • Splunk Enterprise 10.0.x — versions below 10.0.9
  • Splunk Enterprise 9.4.x — versions below 9.4.14

Severity

  • CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 8.1 (High)
  • Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Mitigation and recommended actions

  • Immediate: Upgrade Splunk Enterprise to 10.4.2, 10.2.6, 10.0.9, 9.4.14, or later, matching the affected release line.
  • If patching is not immediately possible: Set strictPeerNameValidation = true in authentication.conf on every node in the distributed search deployment, then restart Splunk Enterprise services on all affected nodes to apply the change.

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.

  • Raw response body: a footer line reading © 2026 Splunk Inc., optionally followed by Splunk [version].

References

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How IONIX’s External Exposure Management Platform Detects and Validates
Zero-Days to Shrink MTTR

1

Map your entire attack surface (continously)

IONIX uses multi-factor discovery methods, including DNS analysis, certificate mapping, metadata inspection, and more, to automatically map every internet-facing asset across your environment. This includes cloud instances, third-party platforms, shadow IT, and even forgotten infrastructure that traditional tools miss.

2

Monitor for new CVEs

Dozens of threat intel feeds using agentic technology are continuously analyzed to detect the appearance of proof-of-concept code, exploit kits, and indicators of active targeting. IONIX goes further by applying AI to proactively evaluate whether emerging vulnerabilities are likely to be exploited, even before PoCs go public.

3

Identify Potential External Exposures

Not all CVEs matter. IONIX filters vulnerabilities by asking attacker-centric questions: Can it be reached from the internet? Does it require authentication? Is it being exploited in the wild? This dramatically reduces noise and focuses teams on threats that can actually be weaponized.

4

Create Safe, Scalable Exploit Validations

IONIX transforms real-world PoCs into safe, non-intrusive test payloads that can be run in production environments without disruption. These simulations are precisely targeted to the systems that are vulnerable, ensuring rapid validation without unnecessary load.

5

Execute Exploit Validations

By combining context about software stack, versioning, exposure status, and reachability, IONIX ensures that only the right payloads are executed against the right assets, maximizing efficiency and minimizing risk.

6

Drive Fast and Actionable Remediation

Results are routed through integrations with ticketing, SOAR, and SIEM tools. Issues are written in plain language, bundled into remediation clusters, and prioritized based on asset criticality, exploitability, and blast radius. This shortens mean time to remediation (MTTR) and empowers teams to act with confidence.

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  • Identification of potentially exposed assets to this CVE
  • Confirmation of verified exploitable assets
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