VulnerabilityPublished 12 Mar 2026

CVE-2026-32248: parse-server · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Data Query Logic

Affects parse-serverSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 9.3 Critical : upgrade to 9.6.0-alpha.12 or 8.6.38 as a priority.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:52 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

9.3Critical

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

EPSS: 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 50% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 9.6.0-alpha.12, 8.6.38

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

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

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

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable system is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed below, 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: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
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: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files of the vulnerable system to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: High: There is a total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all information within the Vulnerable System being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact. For example, an attacker steals the administrator's password, or private encryption keys of a web server.
Vulnerable system 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 vulnerable system. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to 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.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 12 Mar 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 30 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

Upgrade parse-server to 9.6.0-alpha.12 or 8.6.38; parse-community/parse-server to 8.6.38.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
parse-communityparse-server	Affected >=9.0.0 <9.6.0-alpha.12	Fixed in 9.6.0-alpha.12
parse-communityparse-server	Affected <8.6.38	Fixed in 8.6.38
GitHubparse-community/parse-server`pkg:github/parse-community/parse-server`Other threats	Affected <8.6.38 =9.6.0-alpha.12	Fixed in 8.6.38

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Organizations should immediately upgrade parse-server to version 9.6.0-alpha.12 or later, or 8.6.38 or later, where the vulnerability is fixed. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, disable anonymous authentication to prevent exploitation via unvalidated user identifiers. Review and enforce strict validation of user identifiers for all authentication providers to ensure only exact-match queries are performed. Implement additional monitoring and alerting for unusual login patterns or session token issuance to detect potential exploitation attempts. Conduct thorough audits of user accounts created via anonymous or other non-validated authentication methods and consider resetting session tokens or passwords where appropriate. Employ network-level protections such as web application firewalls (WAFs) to detect and block suspicious query patterns targeting the login endpoint. Educate development teams on secure query construction and input validation to prevent similar injection or query manipulation vulnerabilities. Maintain an up-to-date inventory of parse-server deployments and their versions to prioritize patching efforts. Finally, integrate vulnerability scanning and penetration testing focused on authentication mechanisms to identify residual risks.

Description

Parse Server is an open source backend that can be deployed to any infrastructure that can run Node.js. Prior to 9.6.0 and 8.6.38, an unauthenticated attacker can take over any user account that was created with an authentication provider that does not validate the format of the user identifier (e.g. anonymous authentication). By sending a crafted login request, the attacker can cause the server to perform a pattern-matching query instead of an exact-match lookup, allowing the attacker to match an existing user and obtain a valid session token for that user's account. Both MongoDB and PostgreSQL database backends are affected. Any Parse Server deployment that allows anonymous authentication (enabled by default) is vulnerable. This vulnerability is fixed in 9.6.0 and 8.6.38.

Impact

The impact of CVE-2026-32248 is severe for organizations using vulnerable parse-server versions with anonymous authentication enabled. Attackers can gain unauthorized access to any user account created via authentication providers lacking identifier validation, resulting in complete account takeover without needing credentials. This compromises user confidentiality, allowing exposure of sensitive personal or business data. Integrity is also affected as attackers can impersonate users, perform unauthorized actions, and potentially escalate privileges within the application ecosystem. Availability is less directly impacted but could be affected if attackers leverage compromised accounts to disrupt services. The vulnerability's ease of exploitation without authentication or user interaction increases the risk of widespread abuse. Organizations relying on parse-server for backend services, especially those with sensitive user data or critical business functions, face significant reputational, legal, and operational risks if exploited. The vulnerability affects deployments using either MongoDB or PostgreSQL backends, broadening the scope of impact. Given the default enablement of anonymous authentication in parse-server, many deployments may be unknowingly vulnerable. Immediate remediation is essential to prevent account compromises and downstream attacks.

CWE-943Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Data Query Logic (opens in a new tab)
Class weakness
The product generates a query intended to access or manipulate data in a data store such as a database, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that can modify the intended logic of the query.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
Deserialization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.5.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
NoSQL Injection (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 20 Mar 2026, 02:35 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-943

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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