CVE-2026-74243: Missing Authentication for Critical Function in Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Update Service
A flaw was found in Red Hat Quay. When the SECURITY_SCANNER_V4_PSK (pre-shared key) is not set, a remote unauthenticated attacker can send POST requests to the security scanner notification endpoint. This allows the attacker to flood the notification queue and inject path traversal characters into Clair API URL paths. The primary consequence is worker resource exhaustion and blind path manipulation on the configured Clair host, potentially leading to a denial of service.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
The vulnerability CVE-2026-74243 affects Red Hat Quay's security scanner notification endpoint. When the SECURITY_SCANNER_V4_PSK pre-shared key is unset, the endpoint accepts unauthenticated POST requests. Attackers can exploit this to flood the notification queue and inject path traversal sequences into Clair API URL paths. This leads to worker resource exhaustion and blind path manipulation on the Clair host, potentially causing denial of service. The flaw is due to missing authentication on a critical function. Operator-managed deployments are not affected as they auto-generate the pre-shared key. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5 (medium severity) with network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction, unchanged scope, no confidentiality impact, low integrity impact, and low availability impact. Red Hat advises configuring the SECURITY_SCANNER_V4_PSK in standalone Quay installations to mitigate the issue.
Potential Impact
An unauthenticated remote attacker can flood the security scanner notification endpoint and inject path traversal characters into Clair API URL paths. This can exhaust worker resources and manipulate paths on the Clair host, potentially causing denial of service. There is no confidentiality impact, but integrity and availability impacts are low. The vulnerability affects standalone Red Hat Quay installations without the SECURITY_SCANNER_V4_PSK configured. Operator-managed deployments are not impacted due to automatic key generation.
Mitigation Recommendations
To mitigate this vulnerability, configure the SECURITY_SCANNER_V4_PSK pre-shared key in standalone Red Hat Quay installations. This enables authentication on the security scanner notification endpoint and prevents unauthenticated access. Refer to Red Hat Quay documentation for configuration instructions. A restart of the Quay service may be required for the change to take effect. Operator-managed deployments are not affected as they generate this key automatically. No official patch or fix version is currently stated; patch status is not yet confirmed—check the Red Hat advisory for updates.
CVE-2026-74243: Missing Authentication for Critical Function in Red Hat Red Hat OpenShift Update Service
Description
A flaw was found in Red Hat Quay. When the SECURITY_SCANNER_V4_PSK (pre-shared key) is not set, a remote unauthenticated attacker can send POST requests to the security scanner notification endpoint. This allows the attacker to flood the notification queue and inject path traversal characters into Clair API URL paths. The primary consequence is worker resource exhaustion and blind path manipulation on the configured Clair host, potentially leading to a denial of service.
CVSS v3.1
Score 6.5medium
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
The vulnerability CVE-2026-74243 affects Red Hat Quay's security scanner notification endpoint. When the SECURITY_SCANNER_V4_PSK pre-shared key is unset, the endpoint accepts unauthenticated POST requests. Attackers can exploit this to flood the notification queue and inject path traversal sequences into Clair API URL paths. This leads to worker resource exhaustion and blind path manipulation on the Clair host, potentially causing denial of service. The flaw is due to missing authentication on a critical function. Operator-managed deployments are not affected as they auto-generate the pre-shared key. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5 (medium severity) with network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction, unchanged scope, no confidentiality impact, low integrity impact, and low availability impact. Red Hat advises configuring the SECURITY_SCANNER_V4_PSK in standalone Quay installations to mitigate the issue.
Potential Impact
An unauthenticated remote attacker can flood the security scanner notification endpoint and inject path traversal characters into Clair API URL paths. This can exhaust worker resources and manipulate paths on the Clair host, potentially causing denial of service. There is no confidentiality impact, but integrity and availability impacts are low. The vulnerability affects standalone Red Hat Quay installations without the SECURITY_SCANNER_V4_PSK configured. Operator-managed deployments are not impacted due to automatic key generation.
Mitigation Recommendations
To mitigate this vulnerability, configure the SECURITY_SCANNER_V4_PSK pre-shared key in standalone Red Hat Quay installations. This enables authentication on the security scanner notification endpoint and prevents unauthenticated access. Refer to Red Hat Quay documentation for configuration instructions. A restart of the Quay service may be required for the change to take effect. Operator-managed deployments are not affected as they generate this key automatically. No official patch or fix version is currently stated; patch status is not yet confirmed—check the Red Hat advisory for updates.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- redhat
- Date Reserved
- 2026-08-14T19:46:37.191Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Remediation Level
- null
- Vendor Advisory Urls
- [{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-74243","vendor":"Red Hat"}]
Threat ID: 6a7f9d48bf8831d539dc2e25
Added to database: 08/14/2026, 22:57:12 UTC
Last enriched: 08/22/2026, 13:06:43 UTC
Last updated: 09/07/2026, 10:52:11 UTC
Views: 50
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