VulnerabilityPublished 26 May 2026

CVE-2026-46431: xyproto algernon · Permissive Cross-domain Policy with Untrusted Domains

Affects xyproto algernonSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.3 Medium : upgrade to 1.17.7 when convenient.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:52 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.3Medium

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

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 12% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 1.17.7

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: None
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: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
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: 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 impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within 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 26 May 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 algernon and github.com/xyproto/algernon to 1.17.7.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
xyprotoalgernon	Affected <1.17.7	Fixed in 1.17.7
Gogithub.com/xyproto/algernon`pkg:golang/github.com/xyproto/algernon`Other threats	Affected <1.17.7	Fixed in 1.17.7

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

AI-suggested

Upgrade xyproto algernon to version 1.17.7 or later, where this vulnerability is fixed. Until upgraded, be aware of the risk of cross-origin data exposure via the SSE event server. No additional vendor advisory is available; patch status is confirmed by the version fix statement.

Description

Algernon is a small self-contained pure-Go web server. Prior to 1.17.7, the SSE event server's Access-Control-Allow-Origin response header was hardcoded to the wildcard * regardless of the caller's Origin. Because EventSource does not preflight and does not send cookies, the wildcard is sufficient to let any third-party page the developer visits open a cross-origin EventSource to the SSE port and read the live filename stream from JavaScript. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.17.7.

Impact

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability to read live filename streams from the SSE port via cross-origin EventSource connections. While the impact is limited to information disclosure (confidentiality), it does not affect integrity or availability. The CVSS score of 4.3 reflects a medium severity due to the network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, and user interaction needed.

Summary

The vulnerability in xyproto algernon (versions before 1.17.7) involves the SSE event server's Access-Control-Allow-Origin header being hardcoded to '*', permitting any origin to access the server's EventSource stream. Since EventSource does not send cookies and does not require preflight requests, this configuration allows third-party pages to read live filename streams via JavaScript. This is classified under CWE-942 (Permissive Cross-domain Policy with Untrusted Domains). The issue was resolved in version 1.17.7.

CWE-942Permissive Cross-domain Security Policy with Untrusted Domains (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessOWASP Top 10 A02:2025: Security Misconfiguration (opens in a new tab)
The product uses a web-client protection mechanism such as a Content Security Policy (CSP) or cross-domain policy file, but the policy includes untrusted domains with which the web client is allowed to communicate.
Architecture and Design · Operation · Attack Surface Reduction
Define a restrictive Content Security Policy or cross-domain policy file.
Architecture and Design · Operation · Attack Surface Reduction
Avoid using wildcards in the CSP / cross-domain policy file. Any domain matching the wildcard expression will be implicitly trusted, and can perform two-way interaction with the target server.
Architecture and Design · Operation · Environment Hardening
For Flash, modify crossdomain.xml to use meta-policy options such as 'master-only' or 'none' to reduce the possibility of an attacker planting extraneous cross-domain policy files on a server.
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
V1.14.1 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.2 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

github.com/xyproto/algernon/security/advisories/GHSA-hw27-4v2q-5qff (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 May 2026, 17:20 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-942

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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