VulnerabilityPublished 30 Sep 2026

CVE-2026-77185: Apache MINA SSHD · Authentication Bypass by Primary Weakness

Affects Apache MINA SSHDSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 9.1 Critical : upgrade to 3.0.0-M6 or 2.20.0 as a priority.

Data as of 12 Nov 2026, 23:24 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

9.1Critical

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

EPSS

0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 46% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

Exploitation: No evidence of active exploitation and no public proof of concept
Automatable: Attackers can reliably automate steps 1–4 of the kill chain
Technical impact: Total control over the software or total information disclosure

CISA SSVC assessment, 2026-09-30.

Patch

Available – fixed in 3.0.0-M6, 2.20.0

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
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: 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: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
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 30 Sep 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 13 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 Apache to 3.0.0-M6 or 2.20.0.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Apache Software FoundationApache MINA SSHD	Affected >=3.0.0-M1 <3.0.0-M6	Fixed in 3.0.0-M6
Apache Software FoundationApache MINA SSHD	Affected >=2.0.0 <2.20.0	Fixed in 2.20.0
MavenApache Software Foundation/org.apache.sshd:sshd-core`pkg:maven/Apache Software Foundation/org.apache.sshd:sshd-core`Other threats	Affected >=2.0.0 <2.20.0 >=3.0.0-M1 <3.0.0-M6	Fixed in 2.20.0 3.0.0-M6

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

AI-suggested

Users should upgrade to Apache MINA SSHD version 2.20.0 or 3.0.0-M6 or later, where the vulnerability is fixed. These versions correct the logic error and prevent the use of asynchronous authentication with public-key or hostbased authentication schemes by closing the session and logging an event if such use is attempted. No other mitigation is required if upgrading is performed.

Description

CVE-2026-77185 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Apache MINA SSHD versions 2.0.0 to 2.19.0 and 3.0.0-M1 to 3.0.0-M5. It affects the asynchronous authentication mechanism in the sshd-core component, potentially allowing signature checks to be skipped in public-key or hostbased authentication. The flaw arises from a logic error in the implementation of asynchronous authentication, which must be explicitly used by the server. Fixed in versions 2.20.0 and 3.0.0-M6, these updates also restrict asynchronous authentication to password or keyboard-interactive methods only, closing sessions if misused.

Impact

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability allows an attacker to bypass authentication in affected versions of Apache MINA SSHD, potentially gaining unauthorized access to the SSH server. The vulnerability affects confidentiality and integrity by allowing authentication to be bypassed without proper signature verification. There is no indication of availability impact. No known exploits in the wild have been reported as of the published date.

Summary

Apache MINA SSHD is a Java library for SSH client and server implementations. The vulnerability CVE-2026-77185 involves a logic error in the asynchronous authentication mechanism of the sshd-core server component. When asynchronous authentication is used with public-key or hostbased authentication schemes, the server may skip signature verification or return incorrect authentication results, effectively bypassing authentication. This flaw requires explicit use of the asynchronous authentication feature by the server implementation, which is presumed to be rare. The issue is resolved in Apache MINA SSHD versions 2.20.0 and 3.0.0-M6, which fix the logic error and forbid asynchronous authentication with public-key or hostbased schemes, closing the SSH session and logging an event if attempted.

CWE-305Authentication Bypass by Primary Weakness (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A07:2025: Authentication Failures (opens in a new tab)
The authentication algorithm is sound, but the implemented mechanism can be bypassed as the result of a separate weakness that is primary to the authentication error.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
OWASP Authentication (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V2.8.5 (opens in a new tab)
V2.8.4 (opens in a new tab)
V9.2.3 (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 26 Oct 2026, 09:13 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-305

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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