VulnerabilityPublished 31 Jul 2026Updated 31 Aug 2026

CVE-2026-18203: Red Hat Build of Keycloak · Incorrect Authorization

Affects Red Hat Build of KeycloakSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 24% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: High
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 31 Jul 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Red HatRed Hat Build of Keycloak	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red HatRed Hat Data Grid 8	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red HatRed Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform Expansion Pack	Affected–	Fixed in–
Red HatRed Hat Single Sign-On 7	Affected–	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Red Hat currently states that no mitigation is available or that existing options do not meet their criteria for ease of use, applicability, or stability. Users should monitor the Red Hat advisory page for updates on patches or mitigations. Until a fix is released, organizations should carefully review group naming conventions and the use of the 'extendChildren' policy setting to minimize risk, though no official workaround is provided.

Description

A flaw was found in the group policy evaluation logic of Keycloak, an identity and access management solution. When a group policy is set to extend permissions to child groups, the system incorrectly uses a simple text-based prefix check to verify group membership. This allows a user who belongs to a different group with a similar starting name to bypass security checks and gain unauthorized access to administrative functions or protected resources.

Impact

Successful exploitation allows an attacker to bypass intended access restrictions and gain unauthorized integrity-impacting permissions, such as administrative access or modification of protected data within the Keycloak realm. The flaw does not impact confidentiality or availability directly but can lead to unauthorized modification of application data and access control bypass. Exploitation requires a specific group naming collision and the 'extendChildren' policy setting to be active.

Summary

This vulnerability in Red Hat Build of Keycloak stems from improper string prefix comparison during group path validation in the authorization services. When the 'extendChildren' policy is enabled, the system incorrectly authorizes users based on a prefix match of group names rather than exact membership. This flaw allows users from sibling groups with similar name prefixes to gain unauthorized integrity-impacting permissions within the realm, including administrative functions or access to protected resources. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5 (medium severity) and requires low privileges and no user interaction for exploitation. Red Hat has assessed the impact as moderate and currently does not provide a patch or effective mitigation.

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What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 7 Aug 2026, 14:30 UTC

Technical details

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