CVE-2026-3118 is a security vulnerability identified in the Orchestrator Plugin of Red Hat Developer Hub, also known as Backstage. The root cause is improper neutralization of special elements in SQL commands due to insufficient input validation within the GraphQL query handling mechanism. An authenticated attacker can craft malicious input and inject it into API requests, which disrupts the backend query processing. This disruption causes the entire Backstage application to crash and subsequently restart, leading to a denial of service condition that affects all users of the platform. The vulnerability does not allow unauthorized data access or modification but impacts availability severely. Exploitation requires the attacker to have valid credentials, but no additional user interaction is needed. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 6.5, reflecting medium severity with network attack vector, low attack complexity, and no user interaction. The scope is unchanged, and the impact is solely on availability (high impact), with no confidentiality or integrity loss. No patches or exploits are currently publicly known, but the issue is critical for organizations relying on uninterrupted Backstage operations.

The primary impact of CVE-2026-3118 is a denial of service affecting the availability of the Red Hat Developer Hub platform. Organizations using Backstage for developer collaboration, CI/CD orchestration, or internal tooling will experience service interruptions, potentially halting development workflows and reducing productivity. Although confidentiality and integrity are not directly compromised, the downtime can lead to operational delays and increased support costs. In environments where Backstage is critical for deployment pipelines or internal developer portals, this disruption could cascade into broader business impact. The requirement for authentication limits exploitation to insiders or compromised accounts, but the ease of exploitation (low complexity) increases risk if credentials are exposed. No known active exploits reduce immediate threat but patching and mitigation remain urgent to prevent future attacks.

Organizations should monitor Red Hat’s advisories for patches addressing CVE-2026-3118 and apply updates promptly once available. Until patched, implement strict input validation and sanitization on all GraphQL API inputs within the Orchestrator Plugin to prevent injection of special elements. Employ Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) or API gateways with rules to detect and block suspicious GraphQL queries indicative of injection attempts. Restrict access to the Backstage platform to trusted users and enforce strong authentication and credential management to reduce risk of compromised accounts. Enable detailed logging and monitoring of API requests to detect anomalous patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Consider rate limiting API requests to reduce the impact of automated attacks. Conduct regular security assessments and code reviews focusing on input handling in custom plugins or extensions to Backstage. Finally, prepare incident response plans to quickly recover from potential DoS events caused by this vulnerability.