CVE-2026-1961
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 · uneditedA flaw was found in Foreman. A remote attacker could exploit a command injection vulnerability in Foreman's WebSocket proxy implementation. This vulnerability arises from the system's use of unsanitized hostname values from compute resource providers when constructing shell commands. By operating a malicious compute resource server, an attacker could achieve remote code execution on the Foreman server when a user accesses VM VNC console functionality. This could lead to the compromise of sensitive credentials and the entire managed infrastructure.
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 confidenceForeman contains a command injection vulnerability in its WebSocket proxy implementation. The system uses unsanitized hostname values from compute resource providers when constructing shell commands. An attacker operating a malicious compute resource server can achieve remote code execution when a user accesses the VM VNC console functionality.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Foreman installation and versionRun 'foreman --version' or check the About page in the Foreman web UI under Administer > About. Compare the version to the affected version range for CVE-2026-1961.Affected if The installed version falls within the vulnerable version range.
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List configured compute resource providersNavigate to Infrastructure > Compute Resources in the Foreman web UI, or run 'hammer compute-resource list' via CLI.Affected if Any compute resource providers are configured, especially those from untrusted sources.
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Verify VNC console functionality is accessibleCheck if any VMs provisioned on compute resources have VNC console access enabled. Look for VNC-related settings in compute resource configuration or VM provisioning templates.Affected if VNC console access is enabled for any compute resource VMs.
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Inspect WebSocket proxy configurationExamine Foreman configuration files (typically in /etc/foreman or /etc/katello) for WebSocket proxy settings related to compute resource connections.Affected if WebSocket proxy is configured to pass through hostname values from compute resource providers.
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Review compute resource provider hostname handlingCheck the compute resource provider settings to see if hostnames are being passed directly to shell commands without sanitization. Look at logs under /var/log/foreman for VNC console connection attempts.Affected if Hostnames from compute resources are used in shell command construction without validation.
A user is affected if they run a vulnerable version of Foreman with compute resource providers configured and VNC console functionality enabled, where malicious compute resource hostnames could be injected into shell commands.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataSanitize all hostname values from compute resource providers before using them in shell command construction. Consider implementing input validation and using parameterized commands instead of string concatenation.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-1961 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-1961 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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