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Openlitespeed CVE-2021-26758

HIGH
Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269)
2021-04-07 cve@mitre.org
8.8
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Least privilege enforcement
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Privilege Escalation

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Impact

CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction not required. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A remote attacker could escalate privileges to gain unauthorized elevated access by sending crafted requests to the affected application.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
No patch listed yet 2.7% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

Privilege Escalation in LiteSpeed Technologies OpenLiteSpeed web server version 1.7.8 allows attackers to gain root terminal access and execute commands on the host system. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Apply principle of least privilege, validate privilege transitions, implement proper role separation.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269), which allows attackers to escalate privileges to gain unauthorized elevated access. Privilege Escalation in LiteSpeed Technologies OpenLiteSpeed web server version 1.7.8 allows attackers to gain root terminal access and execute commands on the host system. Affected products include: Litespeedtech Openlitespeed. Version information: version 1.7.8.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 8.8 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

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

DescriptionNVD

Privilege Escalation in LiteSpeed Technologies OpenLiteSpeed web server version 1.7.8 allows attackers to gain root terminal access and execute commands on the host system.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
2.7%
Top 16% exploitable
Exploit
POC
Public exploit code exists
Data Quality
4 sources
Confidence: Medium
NVD CVE.org EPSS Exploit-DB GitHub

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC Yes
EPSS 2.7%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
Poc
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

67
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +3
CVSS: +44
PoC: +20
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:litespeedtech:openlitespeed:1.7.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
CVE-2022-0074 HIGH POC
8.8 Oct 27

Untrusted Search Path vulnerability in LiteSpeed Technologies OpenLiteSpeed Web Server and LiteSpeed Web Server Containe

CVE-2022-0073 HIGH POC
8.8 Oct 27

Improper Input Validation vulnerability in LiteSpeed Technologies OpenLiteSpeed Web Server and LiteSpeed Web Server dash

CVE-2018-19792 MEDIUM POC
6.7 Dec 03

The server in LiteSpeed OpenLiteSpeed before 1.5.0 RC6 allows local users to cause a denial of service (buffer overflow)

CVE-2018-19791 MEDIUM POC
6.5 Dec 03

The server in LiteSpeed OpenLiteSpeed before 1.5.0 RC6 does not correctly handle requests for byte sequences, allowing a

CVE-2022-0072 MEDIUM POC
5.8 Oct 27

Directory Traversal vulnerability in LiteSpeed Technologies OpenLiteSpeed Web Server and LiteSpeed Web Server dashboards

CVE-2020-5519 CRITICAL
9.8 Jan 06

The WebAdmin Console in OpenLiteSpeed before v1.6.5 does not strictly check request URLs, as demonstrated by the "Server

CVE-2026-31386 HIGH
8.6 Mar 16

OS command injection in OpenLiteSpeed and LSWS Enterprise web servers from LiteSpeed Technologies allows administrative

CVE-2026-119559 HIGH
8.2 Oct 30

OpenLiteSpeed through 1.9.4 allows unauthenticated remote attackers to bypass virtual-host client-certificate (mTLS) enf

CVE-2015-3890 HIGH
7.5 Sep 20

Use-after-free vulnerability in Open Litespeed before 1.3.10. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remo

CVE-2023-40518 HIGH
7.5 Aug 14

LiteSpeed OpenLiteSpeed before 1.7.18 does not strictly validate HTTP request headers. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), t

CVE-2026-104474 MEDIUM
5.4 Oct 03

Local privilege escalation in OpenLiteSpeed before 1.9.3 lets an attacker who already controls the low-privileged 'nobod

CVE-2024-31617 MEDIUM
5.3 May 22

OpenLiteSpeed before 1.8.1 mishandles chunked encoding. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely

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