VulnerabilityPublished 24 Jun 2026

CVE-2026-53949: TryGhost Ghost · Information Exposure

Affects TryGhost GhostSource CVE Database V5

Compare

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium : upgrade to 6.21.2 when convenient.

Data as of 6 Nov 2026, 23:24 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.3Medium

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 6.21.2

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
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: 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: 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 24 Jun 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 6 Nov 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 Ghost and ghost to 6.21.2.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
TryGhostGhost	Affected >=5.46.1 <6.21.2	Fixed in 6.21.2
npmghost`pkg:npm/ghost`Other threats	Affected >=5.46.1 <6.21.2	Fixed in 6.21.2

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

AI-suggested

An official patch is available in Ghost version 6.21.2 and should be applied promptly. For environments where immediate upgrading is not feasible, it is recommended to block or filter requests to Content API endpoints containing filter query parameters with 'password' or 'email' substrings (case-insensitive) at the reverse proxy or WAF level. This prevents unauthorized access to sensitive fields until the patch can be deployed.

Description

### Impact The validation applied to filters on the public API endpoints could be partially bypassed, making it possible to reveal private fields via a brute force attack. If SQLite was used as the database password hashes were fully accessible. If MySQL was used as the database the password hashes' case (uppercase / lowercase) would have been lost, which would likely have rendered a further brute force attack on the discovered hashes fruitless. ### Vulnerable versions This vulnerability is present in Ghost from v5.46.1 up to v6.21.1. ### Patches v6.21.2 contains a fix for this issue. ### How to update For self-hosters using Docker, find [Docker's official Ghost image here](https://hub.docker.com/_/ghost). Updating a Docker-based Ghost instance [is documented here](https://docs.ghost.org/install/docker#updating-ghost). If your Ghost is a Ghost-CLI install see our documentation on [updating it to the latest version here](https://docs.ghost.org/update). ### Workarounds If upgrading immediately is not possible, block or filter requests to Content API endpoints where the `filter` query parameter contains `password` or `email` (including any compound form such as `users.password`, `users.email`, `authors.password`, `authors.email`). Reject requests at a reverse proxy / WAF layer before they reach Ghost. Example (case-insensitive) pattern to block on the raw querystring: ``` filter=[^&]*(password|email) ``` ### References Ghost thanks crnkovic for disclosing this vulnerability responsibly. ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, email Ghost at [security@ghost.org](mailto:security@ghost.org).

Impact

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability to access private fields, including password hashes, via the public API. Full password hash exposure occurs with SQLite databases, increasing risk of credential compromise. With MySQL, the altered case of hashes reduces the likelihood of successful brute force attacks. No integrity or availability impacts are reported. There is no evidence of known exploits in the wild at this time.

Summary

CVE-2026-53949 is a sensitive information exposure vulnerability in TryGhost Ghost where validation on filters in public API endpoints can be partially bypassed. This flaw enables an attacker to reveal private fields through brute force attacks on the filter parameter. When SQLite is the backend database, password hashes are fully exposed; with MySQL, case normalization of hashes likely diminishes brute force attack success. The vulnerability affects Ghost versions from 5.46.1 up to but not including 6.21.2, which contains the official patch.

CWE-200Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #20OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
Logging (opens in a new tab)
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.4 (opens in a new tab)
V14.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
V7.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Subverting Environment Variable Values (opens in a new tab)
ICMP Echo Request Ping (opens in a new tab)
TCP SYN Scan (opens in a new tab)
Enumerate Mail Exchange (MX) Records (opens in a new tab)
DNS Zone Transfers (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).
CWE-693Protection Mechanism Failure (opens in a new tab)
Pillar weaknessOWASP Top 10 A06:2025: Insecure Design (opens in a new tab)
The product does not use or incorrectly uses a protection mechanism that provides sufficient defense against directed attacks against the product.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Secure Design Principles (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Accessing Functionality Not Properly Constrained by ACLs (opens in a new tab)
Cross Site Tracing (opens in a new tab)
Directory Indexing (opens in a new tab)
Using Malicious Files (opens in a new tab)
Encryption Brute Forcing (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/security/advisories/GHSA-jx35-x7fj-vgpr (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 5 Aug 2026, 15:32 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-200, CWE-693

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats