CVE-2026-28193 is a critical authorization vulnerability identified in JetBrains YouTrack versions prior to 2025.3.121962. The flaw is categorized under CWE-862, which involves improper authorization, allowing applications with limited privileges to send requests to the app permissions endpoint. This endpoint typically controls or manages app permissions, and unauthorized access could enable attackers to escalate privileges, modify permissions, or access sensitive data. The vulnerability is remotely exploitable over the network (AV:N), requires low attack complexity (AC:L), and only low privileges (PR:L), with no user interaction needed (UI:N). The scope is unchanged (S:U), but the impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is high (C:H/I:H/A:H), reflected in the CVSS 3.1 score of 8.8. Although no public exploits are currently known, the vulnerability's nature suggests that attackers could leverage it to compromise YouTrack instances, potentially leading to data breaches, unauthorized changes in issue tracking workflows, or denial of service. The lack of a patch link indicates that a fix may not yet be publicly available, emphasizing the need for immediate attention from affected organizations. The vulnerability affects all versions before 2025.3.121962, which may include many deployments given YouTrack's popularity in software development and project management environments.

The impact of CVE-2026-28193 is significant for organizations relying on JetBrains YouTrack for issue tracking and project management. Exploitation can lead to unauthorized access to the app permissions endpoint, enabling attackers to escalate privileges, alter permissions, or access sensitive project data. This compromises confidentiality by exposing potentially sensitive information, integrity by allowing unauthorized modifications, and availability by possibly disrupting normal application operations. Given YouTrack's role in managing development workflows, such disruptions can delay projects, cause data loss, or facilitate further attacks within the network. The vulnerability's low complexity and lack of user interaction requirement increase the likelihood of exploitation, especially in environments where YouTrack is exposed to untrusted networks or insufficiently segmented. Organizations without timely patches or compensating controls face elevated risks of data breaches, insider threat exploitation, and operational downtime.

To mitigate CVE-2026-28193, organizations should: 1) Monitor JetBrains' official channels closely for patches and apply updates to YouTrack 2025.3.121962 or later as soon as they become available. 2) Restrict network access to YouTrack instances, limiting exposure to trusted IP addresses and internal networks only. 3) Implement strict access controls and role-based permissions within YouTrack to minimize the privileges of apps and users interacting with the permissions endpoint. 4) Enable detailed logging and monitoring of requests to the app permissions endpoint to detect anomalous or unauthorized access attempts promptly. 5) Use Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) or API gateways to filter and block suspicious requests targeting permission management endpoints. 6) Conduct regular security assessments and penetration testing focusing on authorization mechanisms within YouTrack. 7) Educate administrators and developers about the risks of improper authorization and encourage prompt incident response readiness. These measures, combined with timely patching, will reduce the risk of exploitation and limit potential damage.