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Neo4jApplication

CVE-2026-1524

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.26.22 / 2026.02 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
An edgecase in SSO implementation in Neo4j Enterprise edition versions prior to version 2026.02 can lead to unauthorised access under the following conditions: If a neo4j admin configures two or more OIDC providers AND configures one or more of them to be an authorization provider AND configures one or more of them to be authentication-only, then those that are authentication-only will also provide authorization. This edgecase becomes a security problem only if the authentication-only provider contains groups which have higher privileges than provided by the intended (configured) authorization provider. When using multiple plugins for authentication and authorisation, prior to the fix the issue could lead to a plugin configured to provide only authentication or authorisation capabilities erroneously providing both capabilities.  We recommend upgrading to versions 2026.02 (or 5.26.22) where the issue is fixed.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

In Neo4j Enterprise versions prior to 2026.02, an edge case in SSO implementation causes OIDC providers configured as authentication-only to incorrectly also provide authorization capabilities. This occurs when multiple OIDC providers are configured with a mix of authorization and authentication-only roles, allowing privilege escalation if the authentication-only provider contains higher-privilege groups than the intended authorization provider.

MitigationUpgrade Neo4j Enterprise to version 2026.02 or 5.26.22. Review existing OIDC provider configurations to ensure no unintended privilege escalation occurred prior to the upgrade.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Neo4jApplication
Affected:< 5.26.22>= 2025.01.0, < 2026.02

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Neo4j version
    Run 'neo4j --version' or check the product version in the Neo4j browser via ':server version' or look in the conf/neo4j.conf file for the version number
    Affected if Version is 5.26.22 or higher, OR version is below 5.26.22 but at or above 5.0.0 AND below 2025.01.0 - the check passes if version is below 5.26.22 and (>= 2025.01.0 and < 2026.02)
  2. Identify configured OIDC providers
    Review neo4j.conf or apoc.conf for 'dbms.security.oidc.*' settings, or query dbms.security.oidc configuration via 'CALL dbms.listConfig()' where name contains 'oidc'
    Affected if Multiple OIDC providers are defined in the configuration (more than one provider with 'dbms.security.oidc.<provider_name>.authenticator' or similar settings)
  3. Verify authentication-only provider configuration
    Look for OIDC provider configuration entries containing 'authentication_only=true' or equivalent setting that designates a provider for authentication-only purposes
    Affected if At least one OIDC provider is explicitly configured as authentication-only (not serving as an authorization source)
  4. Check for mixed authorization and authentication roles
    Compare the provider configurations to identify if one provider handles full authz while another handles only authentication, checking settings like 'dbms.security.oidc.<provider>.authorization.group_to_role_mapping'
    Affected if There is a combination where one provider has authorization.group_to_role_mapping defined (full authorization) while another has authentication_only=true, and both providers could return user group memberships

You are affected if your Neo4j Enterprise version is >= 2025.01.0 and < 2026.02 (or < 5.26.22) AND you have multiple OIDC providers where an authentication-only provider could grant higher privileges than the intended authorization provider.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.26.22 / 2026.02 or later
Fixed in 5.26.222026.02
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Neo4j Enterprise to version 2026.02 or 5.26.22. Review existing OIDC provider configurations to ensure no unintended privilege escalation occurred prior to the upgrade.

Recommended fix High confidence

2026.02 or 5.26.22

  1. 1. Back up your Neo4j database and configuration files before proceeding with the upgrade.
  2. 2. Determine your current Neo4j version by running `neo4j --version` or checking the Neo4j browser.
  3. 3. Stop the Neo4j service using `neo4j stop` or your system's service manager.
  4. 4. Download the fixed version (2026.02 or 5.26.22) from the official Neo4j download center at neo4j.com/download.
  5. 5. Install the new version following Neo4j's standard upgrade procedure for your operating system.
  6. 6. Verify that your configuration files are intact and review the OIDC provider settings to ensure proper configuration.
  7. 7. Start Neo4j using `neo4j start` or your system's service manager.
  8. 8. Confirm the upgrade was successful by running `neo4j --version` and verifying access control works as expected.
Caveat Review release notes for any breaking changes between your current version and 5.26.22/2026.02, particularly around SSO and authentication configurations

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Neo4j Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,480
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-1524 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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