Nginx UiWeb server / proxy · Nginxui

CVE-2026-27944

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.3.3 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit 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
Nginx UI is a web user interface for the Nginx web server. Prior to version 2.3.3, the /api/backup endpoint is accessible without authentication and discloses the encryption keys required to decrypt the backup in the X-Backup-Security response header. This allows an unauthenticated attacker to download a full system backup containing sensitive data (user credentials, session tokens, SSL private keys, Nginx configurations) and decrypt it immediately. This issue has been patched in version 2.3.3.

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

Nginx UI versions prior to 2.3.3 have an unauthenticated backup disclosure vulnerability. The /api/backup endpoint is accessible without authentication and exposes encryption keys in the X-Backup-Security response header, allowing attackers to download system backups and decrypt them using the disclosed keys. Backups contain highly sensitive data including user credentials, session tokens, SSL private keys, and Nginx configurations.

MitigationUpgrade Nginx UI to version 2.3.3 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, implement network-level access controls to restrict the /api/backup endpoint to authorized users only.

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
Nginx UiWeb server / proxy
Affected:< 2.3.3

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. Identify if Nginx UI is installed
    Check for Nginx UI running on your server by examining running processes, checking for the nginx-ui binary, or reviewing reverse proxy configurations that route to a Nginx UI instance.
    Affected if Nginx UI is present in your environment
  2. Check the installed Nginx UI version
    Query the Nginx UI instance version endpoint, check the binary version if running locally, or review your package manager installation history.
    Affected if The version is below 2.3.3 (any version prior to 2.3.3)
  3. Verify if the /api/backup endpoint is accessible
    Send an unauthenticated HTTP GET request to http://<your-server>/api/backup and observe the response code.
    Affected if The endpoint returns a 200 OK response without requiring authentication, indicating the vulnerability is present
  4. Check for the X-Backup-Security header exposure
    Inspect the HTTP response headers from any request to the /api/backup endpoint for the X-Backup-Security header containing encryption keys.
    Affected if The X-Backup-Security header is present and contains encryption key material, confirming sensitive key disclosure

You are affected if Nginx UI version is below 2.3.3 and the /api/backup endpoint responds without authentication or exposes the X-Backup-Security header.

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 2.3.3 or later
Fixed in 2.3.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Nginx UI to version 2.3.3 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, implement network-level access controls to restrict the /api/backup endpoint to authorized users only.

Recommended fix High confidence

2.3.3

  1. Ensure you have a complete backup of your current Nginx UI installation and configuration
  2. Stop the Nginx UI service
  3. Pull or download version 2.3.3 of Nginx UI from the official repository
  4. Upgrade your Nginx UI installation to version 2.3.3
  5. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the version number
  6. Restart the Nginx UI service
  7. Test that the /api/backup endpoint now requires authentication

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

Fix this in Nginx Ui Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-27944 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-27944 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data