CVE-2026-109082
Description
A flaw was found in the Client-Initiated Backchannel Authentication CIBA implementation within the keycloak-services component of Keycloak. This component handles advanced authentication flows where a client initiates a login on behalf of a user. The issue occurs because Keycloak fails to verify that a client is authorized to use the CIBA flow, allowing public clients to bypass security requirements. An attacker could use this flaw to trick a user into approving a login request, eventually gaining full access to the users account without needing a client secret.
Statement
The Red Hat Product Security team has assessed the severity of this vulnerability as Moderate, given that exploitation requires a targeted user to approve a push notification on their authentication device. Successful exploitation allows an attacker to obtain a full user access token and perform actions or access data as that user. The vulnerability's root cause is the lack of enforcement of the confidential-only client requirement for the CIBA grant at the authentication and token endpoints.
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base, or stability.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 6.8 | N/A | 6.8 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | High |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | Required | N/A | Required |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | High | N/A | High |
| Availability Impact | None | N/A | None |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability,Access Control
Technical Impact: Read Application Data; Gain Privileges or Assume Identity; Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
This weakness can lead to the exposure of resources or functionality to unintended actors, possibly providing attackers with sensitive information or even execute arbitrary code.
Acknowledgements
Red Hat would like to thank MZOUGHI Mohamed Amine (zerOiQ) for reporting this issue.
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