As a catastrophic security flaw, CVE-2026-86462 has severe implications, demanding immediate intervention.
Status: Analyzed
Last updated: 🕑 18 Sep 2026, 14:29 UTC
Originally published on: 🕘 16 Sep 2026, 09:17 UTC
Time between publication and last update: 2 days
CVSS Release: version 3
134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
Secondary
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
CVE-2026-86462: Apache Airflow FAB provider: changing a user's password through the Admin user-edit PATCH endpoint does not invalidate that user's existing database-backed sessions. An attacker who already holds a copy of the victim's session cookie keeps full access as that user after the password change, so the password reset does not evict them. Affects deployments using the FAB auth manager with database-backed sessions; an administrator (or the user themselves) performing a routine password change is the trigger, and no attacker interaction with the endpoint is needed. This is a second, independent route to the outcome addressed by CVE-2026-82311, which corrected an identifier comparison in the session-invalidation helper. That fix does not repair this endpoint, because the PATCH path never calls the helper at all. Deployments that applied the CVE-2026-82311 fix must also upgrade for this one. Users of apache-airflow-providers-fab are recommended to upgrade to version 3.9.0 or later, which fixes the issue.
The exploitability of CVE-2026-86462 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).
With low attack complexity and no required privileges, CVE-2026-86462 is an easy target for cybercriminals. Organizations should prioritize immediate mitigation measures to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.
A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.
Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.
Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.
Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2026-86462, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.
Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2026-86462, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.
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