VulnerabilityPublished 25 Mar 2026

CVE-2026-33222: nats-server · Improper Authorization

Affects nats-serverSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.9 Medium : upgrade to 2.12.6 or 2.11.15 when convenient.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.9Medium

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

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 24% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 2.12.6, 2.11.15

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: High
Availability: None

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

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, 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: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: High: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable component that could affect component-wide settings and files.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
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 impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 25 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 nats-server to 2.12.6 or 2.11.15; nats-io/nats-server to 2.11.15.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
nats-ionats-server	Affected >=2.12.0-RC.1 <2.12.6	Fixed in 2.12.6
nats-ionats-server	Affected <2.11.15	Fixed in 2.11.15
GitHubnats-io/nats-server`pkg:github/nats-io/nats-server`Other threats	Affected <2.11.15	Fixed in 2.11.15

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

AI-suggested

Upgrade affected nats-server instances to version 2.11.15 or 2.12.6 or later, where the authorization flaw is fixed.
Temporarily revoke or restrict JetStream restore permissions for users until the upgrade can be applied, especially for users with limited restore permissions.
Audit current JetStream admin API permissions to ensure only trusted and necessary users have restore capabilities.
Implement strict access controls and monitoring on JetStream API usage to detect anomalous restore operations.
Use network segmentation and firewall rules to limit access to nats-server endpoints to authorized administrators only.
Regularly review and update nats-server configurations to follow the principle of least privilege.
Monitor vendor advisories and community forums for any emerging exploit techniques or patches related to this vulnerability.

Description

NATS-Server is a High-Performance server for NATS.io, a cloud and edge native messaging system. Prior to versions 2.11.15 and 2.12.6, users with JetStream admin API access to restore one stream could restore to other stream names, impacting data which should have been protected against them. Versions 2.11.15 and 2.12.6 contain a fix. As a workaround, if developers have configured users to have limited JetStream restore permissions, temporarily remove those permissions.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2026-33222 is on data integrity within systems using nats-server with JetStream enabled. Unauthorized restoration of streams under incorrect names can lead to data corruption or overwriting of critical messaging streams, potentially disrupting application workflows that depend on accurate message delivery and storage. While confidentiality and availability are not directly affected, the integrity compromise can undermine trust in messaging data and cause operational issues in distributed systems relying on NATS for event streaming and messaging. Organizations using affected versions in production environments, especially those with multi-tenant or segmented data streams, face risks of unauthorized data modification by users with elevated JetStream restore permissions. This could lead to compliance violations, data loss, or application errors. The medium CVSS score reflects the need for timely patching but indicates that exploitation requires privileged access, limiting the attack surface to insiders or compromised accounts with high-level permissions.

CWE-285Improper Authorization (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product does not perform or incorrectly performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
Architecture and Design
Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries.
Architecture and Design
Ensure that you perform access control checks related to your business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that you apply to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.2 (opens in a new tab)
V7.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Accessing Functionality Not Properly Constrained by ACLs (opens in a new tab)
Cross Zone Scripting (opens in a new tab)
Directory Indexing (opens in a new tab)
Subverting Environment Variable Values (opens in a new tab)
Using Malicious Files (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 25 Mar 2026, 20:47 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-285

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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