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CVE-2026-85978 – Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution – Perforce Akana API Platform (Policy Manager

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Summary

CVE-2026-85978 is a critical unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability in the Policy Manager console of Perforce’s Akana API Platform. It results from a path normalization discrepancy between the authentication filter and the servlet dispatcher, allowing an attacker to bypass authentication entirely and reach an endpoint that evaluates attacker-supplied script code without sandboxing. The flaw carries the maximum severity score of 10.0 and requires no credentials or user interaction to exploit.

Technical details

  • Root cause: A path normalization discrepancy exists between the authentication filter and the servlet dispatcher in the Policy Manager console, so differently-formatted request paths are interpreted inconsistently by each component.
  • Trigger conditions: An attacker crafts a request path that the authentication filter fails to recognize as protected, while the servlet dispatcher still routes it to a sensitive endpoint.
  • Attack vector: Network-based; no authentication and no user interaction are required (CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization, CWE-41: Improper Resolution of Path Equivalence).
  • Impact: The reached endpoint evaluates attacker-supplied script code without sandboxing (CWE-94: Code Injection), resulting in arbitrary remote code execution on the host running the Policy Manager console.

Affected software

  • Perforce Akana API Platform — all versions are affected except:
    • 2024.1.6
    • 2025.1.2
    • 2026.2

Severity

  • CVSS v4.0 Base Score: 10.0 (Critical)
  • Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H

Mitigation and recommended actions

  • Immediate: Upgrade Akana API Platform to version 2024.1.6, 2025.1.2, or 2026.2 (or later), which resolve this issue.
  • If patching is not immediately possible: Restrict network access to the Policy Manager console to trusted internal networks only, and monitor for anomalous requests to Policy Manager endpoints as an interim compensating control 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: Akana Policy Manager
  • Raw response body: /PM_mark_16_16.ico, Version followed by a version number

References

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Map your entire attack surface (continously)

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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

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6

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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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