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Vulnerability-Lookup EUVDEUVD-2026-57223

| CVE-2026-73405 MEDIUM
Missing Authorization (CWE-862)
2026-08-12 CIRCL GHSA-8gv5-4q99-4cxm
5.3
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: CIRCL
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Register account on self-registration-enabled instance
  2. Delivery
    Capture API key issued before email confirmation
  3. Exploit
    Send GET /pubsub/subscribe/<topic> with X-API-KEY header
  4. Execution
    Bypass missing is_active/is_confirmed check in token_required
  5. Impact
    Receive live SSE stream of pre-moderation vulnerability events

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Authorization checks on every request
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.

Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires that the target Vulnerability-Lookup instance has user self-registration enabled - this is the mechanism by which an attacker obtains an API key prior to account confirmation. The attacker must have network access to the /pubsub/subscribe/<topic> HTTP endpoint. The CVSS 4.0 vector confirms PR:L: a self-registered, unconfirmed account suffices; no elevated privileges, administrator access, or pre-existing confirmed account is needed. Exploitation is limited by the following concrete conditions: instances where self-registration is administratively disabled prevent attackers from obtaining a pre-confirmation API key via this path; network-level restrictions (firewall rules, reverse-proxy ACLs) on the /pubsub/subscribe/ path prevent stream access regardless of key validity; and deployments that publish no sensitive pre-moderation data to Pub/Sub streams reduce the practical impact even if the endpoint is reachable.

Impact

The provided CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N) scores 5.3 (Medium), indicating network-reachable exploitation requiring low privileges (an unconfirmed self-registered account) with limited confidentiality impact. No EPSS score was provided in the input data. The vulnerability is not listed in CISA KEV, and no public exploit code has been identified - this is a patch-and-move-on scenario rather than an active incident. Real-world risk is further bounded by deployment context: instances with self-registration disabled eliminate the primary attack path entirely, and the data exposed is limited to SSE stream events (pre-moderation comments, newly submitted records) rather than the full vulnerability database. The VI:L component in the provided CVSS 4.0 vector is not clearly supported by the description, which describes read-only subscription access - integrity impact is not independently confirmed from the available data. In threat-intelligence sharing deployments (the primary use case for this platform), unauthorized visibility into pre-moderation submissions carries meaningful operational sensitivity, but this does not constitute a broad critical risk for most environments.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker targeting a public-facing Vulnerability-Lookup instance with self-registration enabled creates an account and immediately extracts the API key issued during registration - before completing email confirmation. Using a standard SSE client or curl with an Accept: text/event-stream header and the X-API-KEY value, the attacker connects to /pubsub/subscribe/<topic> and begins receiving a live stream of pre-moderation events, such as newly submitted vulnerability comments pending moderator review, without the account ever being confirmed. No public exploit code has been identified, and the technique requires only basic HTTP client knowledge.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.3% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Aug 12, 2026

Inconsistent authorization enforcement in Vulnerability-Lookup's SSE streaming interface allows self-registered but unconfirmed or inactive accounts to subscribe to Pub/Sub event streams, accessing pre-moderation data that the REST API correctly restricts. The platform's self-registration flow issues an API key before account confirmation is complete, and the token_required decorator on /pubsub/subscribe/<topic> validated only that the key matched a known user - not that the account was active or confirmed. No public exploit has been identified at time of analysis, and a vendor-released patch correcting the authorization gap is confirmed available via upstream commit.

RemediationAI

Apply the upstream fix by updating Vulnerability-Lookup to a version that incorporates commit bef837242657acf680832be56b94428df130ed67 (https://github.com/vulnerability-lookup/vulnerability-lookup/commit/bef837242657acf680832be56b94428df130ed67), which adds is_active and is_confirmed account-state checks to the token_required decorator in website/web/views/pubsub.py, aligning SSE authorization with the REST API gate. A specific patched release tag was not confirmed in the available data - verify the current release tag with the upstream repository before deploying. If an immediate upgrade is not feasible, two compensating controls apply with distinct trade-offs: first, disable or network-restrict the /pubsub/subscribe/ endpoint (e.g., via reverse-proxy ACL or firewall rule), which fully eliminates the attack surface but also blocks all legitimate SSE subscribers; second, disable user self-registration, which removes the mechanism by which attackers obtain pre-confirmation API keys, though this blocks legitimate onboarding and does not protect against keys already issued to unconfirmed accounts.

Affected VersionsENISA

Vulnerability-Lookup 0 ≤5.5.1

Affected Packages

euvd vulnerability_lookup no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

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

Technical ContextAI · show details

Vulnerability-Lookup (CPE: cpe:2.3:a:vulnerability-lookup:vulnerability-lookup:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*) is a CIRCL-developed platform for aggregating and browsing structured vulnerability intelligence. Its SSE (Server-Sent Events) streaming interface, implemented in website/web/views/pubsub.py, serves real-time event feeds under /pubsub/subscribe/<topic> using a custom token_required decorator that authenticates callers by matching the X-API-KEY header against the user database. The root cause is CWE-862 (Missing Authorization): this decorator performed authentication (identity verification) but skipped authorization (account state verification) - specifically the is_active and is_confirmed flags enforced by auth_func in website/web/api/v1/common.py for all REST endpoints. Because the self-registration workflow issues an API key as part of account creation, before the confirmation step completes, this inconsistency created a privilege boundary gap exclusively on the SSE interface.

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Severity by source

Vendor (CIRCL) PRIMARY 5.3 MEDIUM
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
vuln.today AI 4.3 MEDIUM

PR:L because a self-registered unconfirmed account suffices; C:L for limited stream event exposure; I:N and A:N as description supports read-only subscription only.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (CIRCL).

CVSS VectorVendor: CIRCL

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Vulnerable system: Confidentiality
Low
Vulnerable system: Integrity
Low
Vulnerable system: Availability
None
Subsequent system: Confidentiality
None
Subsequent system: Integrity
None
Subsequent system: Availability
None

DescriptionCVE.org

An authorization bypass vulnerability in Vulnerability-Lookup allowed inactive or unconfirmed accounts to subscribe to Server-Sent Events (SSE) streams through the /pubsub/subscribe/<topic> endpoint.

The token_required decorator used by the Pub/Sub interface authenticated requests solely by matching the X-API-KEY header against an existing user API key. Unlike the REST API authentication mechanism, it did not verify the account's is_active and is_confirmed state.

Because the self-registration process issues an API key before account confirmation is completed, an attacker could create an account and immediately use the resulting API key to access Pub/Sub topics that should only be available to active, confirmed users. This could expose stream events that would otherwise be inaccessible through the REST API, including newly submitted or not-yet-moderated data such as comments.

The vulnerability results from inconsistent authorization enforcement between the REST API and the SSE streaming interface.

The patch corrects the issue by requiring accounts to be both active and confirmed before permitting access to Pub/Sub streams, bringing the SSE authorization boundary in line with the REST API.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.3%
Top 79% exploitable
Prevalence
Rare
niche CIRCL-developed threat-intelligence aggregation tool
Data Quality
6 sources
Confidence: High

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 MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.3%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
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
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

26
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +26
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.

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