VulnerabilityPublished 13 Mar 2026Updated 16 Mar 2026

CVE-2026-32594: parse-server · Missing Authentication

Affects parse-serverSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.9 Medium : upgrade to 9.6.0-alpha.14 or 8.6.40 when convenient.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

6.9Medium

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

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 29% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 9.6.0-alpha.14, 8.6.40

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Vulnerable system confidentiality: Low
Vulnerable system integrity: None
Vulnerable system availability: Low
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: 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: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the Vulnerable System are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to 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 13 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 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

Upgrade parse-server to 9.6.0-alpha.14 or 8.6.40; parse-community/parse-server to 8.6.40.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
parse-communityparse-server	Affected >=9.0.0 <9.6.0-alpha.14	Fixed in 9.6.0-alpha.14
parse-communityparse-server	Affected <8.6.40	Fixed in 8.6.40
npmparse-community/parse-server`pkg:npm/parse-community/parse-server`Other threats	Affected <8.6.40	Fixed in 8.6.40

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

AI-suggested

Upgrade parse-server to version 8.6.40 or later, or 9.6.0-alpha.14 or later, where the vulnerability is patched.
If immediate upgrade is not possible, restrict network access to the GraphQL WebSocket endpoint using firewall rules or network segmentation to limit exposure to trusted clients only.
Implement WebSocket-level authentication proxies or gateways that enforce authentication and query complexity limits before requests reach parse-server.
Monitor GraphQL subscription traffic for unusual patterns, such as excessive query complexity or unexpected schema introspection requests.
Regularly audit parse-server configurations to ensure introspection is disabled in production environments unless explicitly required.
Employ rate limiting and resource quotas on GraphQL endpoints to mitigate potential denial of service attacks.
Educate development and operations teams about this vulnerability and ensure secure deployment practices for parse-server instances.

Description

Parse Server is an open source backend that can be deployed to any infrastructure that can run Node.js. Prior to 8.6.40 and 9.6.0-alpha.14, the GraphQL WebSocket endpoint for subscriptions does not pass requests through the Express middleware chain that enforces authentication, introspection control, and query complexity limits. An attacker can connect to the WebSocket endpoint and execute GraphQL operations without providing a valid application or API key, access the GraphQL schema via introspection even when public introspection is disabled, and send arbitrarily complex queries that bypass configured complexity limits. This vulnerability is fixed in 8.6.40 and 9.6.0-alpha.14.

Impact

This vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote attackers to access critical backend functions via the GraphQL WebSocket endpoint. The primary impacts include unauthorized data exposure through schema introspection, which can aid further attacks, and the ability to execute arbitrary GraphQL queries without restriction. The bypass of query complexity limits can lead to resource exhaustion, causing denial of service conditions affecting availability. Organizations relying on parse-server for backend services risk data leakage and service disruption. Since authentication is bypassed, attackers do not need valid credentials, increasing the attack surface. The impact is particularly significant for applications exposing sensitive data or operating in multi-tenant environments. While no integrity impact is noted, the confidentiality and availability risks can lead to reputational damage, regulatory non-compliance, and operational downtime.

CWE-306Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #21OWASP Top 10 A07:2025: Authentication Failures (opens in a new tab)
The product does not perform any authentication for functionality that requires a provable user identity or consumes a significant amount of resources.
Architecture and Design
Divide the software into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Identify which of these areas require a proven user identity, and use a centralized authentication capability.
Architecture and Design
For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks…
Architecture and Design
Where possible, avoid implementing custom, "grow-your-own" authentication routines and consider using authentication capabilities as provided by the surrounding framework, operating system, or environment.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
OWASP Authentication (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.2.3 (opens in a new tab)
V1.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
V1.2.4 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Choosing Message Identifier (opens in a new tab)
Force the System to Reset Values (opens in a new tab)
Using Unpublished Interfaces or Functionality (opens in a new tab)
Cross Site Request Forgery (opens in a new tab)
Communication Channel Manipulation (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 21 Mar 2026, 00:41 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-306

Technical details

References

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