VulnerabilityPublished 23 Feb 2026

CVE-2026-2974: AliasVault App · Exposure of Backup File to an Unauthorized Control Sphere

Affects AliasVault AppSource CVE Database V5

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Public exploit available · CVSS 2.0 Low.

Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 19:04 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

2.0Low

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

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 1% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P

Base metrics

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: High
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Vulnerable system confidentiality: Low
Vulnerable system integrity: None
Vulnerable system availability: None
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Threat metrics

Exploit Maturity: POC

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

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable system is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or through terminal emulation (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., using social engineering techniques to trick a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: High: The successful attack depends on the evasion or circumvention of security-enhancing techniques in place that would otherwise hinder the attack. These include: Evasion of exploit mitigation techniques, for example, circumvention of address space randomization (ASLR) or data execution prevention (DEP) must be performed for the attack to be successful; Obtaining target-specific secrets. The attacker must gather some target-specific secret before the attack can be successful. A secret is any piece of information that cannot be obtained through any amount of reconnaissance. To obtain the secret the attacker must perform additional attacks or break otherwise secure measures (e.g. knowledge of a secret key may be needed to break a crypto channel). This operation must be performed for each attacked target.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker requires privileges that provide basic capabilities that are typically limited to settings and resources owned by a single low-privileged user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges has the ability to access only non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Exploit Maturity: POC: Based on threat intelligence sources each of the following must apply: · Proof-of-concept is publicly available · No knowledge of reported attempts to exploit this vulnerability · No knowledge of publicly available solutions used to simplify attempts to exploit the vulnerability

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 23 Feb 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: evidence found.
CVSS exploit maturity: proof of concept public
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), CVSS vector, 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
AliasVault App	Affected 0.25.0 – 0.25.3 4 affected builds	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-2974, organizations and users should upgrade the AliasVault App to version 0.26.0 or later, where the vulnerability has been patched by removing sensitive tokens from backup files. Additionally, enforcing strong device access controls such as biometric locks, PINs, or passwords reduces the risk of local attackers gaining access. Regularly auditing backup files and storage locations for sensitive data exposure can help detect similar issues proactively. Employing endpoint security solutions that monitor for unauthorized local access or file manipulations can further reduce risk. Educating users on the risks of physical device compromise and encouraging secure handling of mobile devices is also critical. For organizations deploying AliasVault in managed environments, consider restricting local backup creation or encrypting backups with keys separate from the app’s tokens. Finally, monitor for updates from the vendor and apply patches promptly to maintain security.

Description

A vulnerability was identified in AliasVault App up to 0.25.3 on Android/iOS. This vulnerability affects unknown code of the file shared_prefs/aliasvault.xml of the component Backup Handler. The manipulation of the argument accessToken/refreshToken/metadata/key_derivation_params/auth_methods leads to exposure of backup file to an unauthorized control sphere. An attack has to be approached locally. The attack is considered to have high complexity. It is stated that the exploitability is difficult. The exploit is publicly available and might be used. Upgrading to version 0.26.0 is able to resolve this issue. The identifier of the patch is 873ecc03f92238e162f98a068ad56069a922b4f6/0bd662320174d8265dfe3b05a04bc13efc960532. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component. The creator of the software explains: "Because of AliasVault's zero-knowledge encryption design, the tokens stored in aliasvault.xml are API session tokens that cannot decrypt the vault on their own: the master password is required for that. So while this isn't a direct vault compromise risk, there's no reason to include them in backups either."

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2026-2974 is the potential exposure of API session tokens stored in backup files to unauthorized local attackers. While these tokens alone cannot decrypt the vault due to the zero-knowledge encryption design requiring the master password, their exposure could facilitate session hijacking or unauthorized API access if combined with other vulnerabilities or social engineering attacks. This could lead to partial compromise of user sessions or metadata leakage. The vulnerability requires local access and is difficult to exploit, limiting its scope primarily to scenarios where an attacker gains physical or local control of the device. For organizations, this vulnerability poses a low risk to confidentiality and integrity but could undermine user trust and security posture if exploited. The availability of a public exploit increases the importance of timely patching despite the low severity. Overall, the impact is limited but non-negligible, especially in high-security environments or where devices are shared or at risk of local compromise.

Summary

CVE-2026-2974 identifies a security vulnerability in the AliasVault App, specifically versions 0.25.0 through 0.25.3 on Android and iOS platforms. The vulnerability concerns the Backup Handler component, which manages the backup file located at shared_prefs/aliasvault.xml. This file contains sensitive API session tokens such as accessToken, refreshToken, metadata, key_derivation_params, and auth_methods. Due to improper handling or insufficient access control, these tokens can be exposed to an unauthorized local attacker who has access to the device. The attack vector is local, meaning the attacker must have physical or local access to the device, and the complexity of successfully exploiting this vulnerability is high. The tokens exposed do not directly allow decryption of the vault contents because AliasVault employs a zero-knowledge encryption model requiring the master password for decryption. However, the presence of these tokens in backups is unnecessary and could potentially aid an attacker in session hijacking or other indirect attacks. The vulnerability does not require user interaction and does not escalate privileges beyond local access. The vendor has addressed this issue in version 0.26.0 by removing sensitive tokens from backups. The CVSS 4.0 base score is 2.0, reflecting low severity due to limited impact and high exploitation complexity. No known exploits are currently active in the wild, but a public exploit exists. Users are advised to upgrade to the patched version to eliminate the risk.

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