CVE-2026-30229
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 · uneditedParse Server is an open source backend that can be deployed to any infrastructure that can run Node.js. Prior to versions 8.6.6 and 9.5.0-alpha.4, the readOnlyMasterKey can call POST /loginAs to obtain a valid session token for any user. This allows a read-only credential to impersonate arbitrary users with full read and write access to their data. Any Parse Server deployment that uses readOnlyMasterKey is affected. This issue has been patched in versions 8.6.6 and 9.5.0-alpha.4.
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 confidenceIn Parse Server versions prior to 8.6.6 and 9.5.0-alpha.4, the readOnlyMasterKey authentication credential can call the POST /loginAs endpoint to obtain a valid session token for any user in the system. This allows a read-only credential to escalate privileges and impersonate arbitrary users, gaining full read and write access to their data despite being intended as read-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< 8.6.6>= 9.0.0, <= 9.4.1= 9.5.0CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Parse Server versionRun 'parse-server --version' or check the version in your package.json, package-lock.json, or the running service's version endpointAffected if The installed version is less than 8.6.6, OR between 9.0.0 and 9.4.1 inclusive, OR equal to 9.5.0 (including 9.5.0-alpha.1 through 9.5.0-alpha.3)
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Verify readOnlyMasterKey is configuredInspect your Parse Server configuration file (server.js, index.js, parse-dashboard config, or environment variables). Look for the 'readOnlyMasterKey' setting in the server config optionsAffected if readOnlyMasterKey is defined and set in your Parse Server configuration
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Check for readOnlyMasterKey usage with /loginAs endpointReview Parse Server access logs, audit logs, or application logs for POST requests to '/loginAs' where the authentication header contains the readOnlyMasterKey (or check for X-Parse-Master-Key with read-only permissions)Affected if Logs show POST /loginAs calls using credentials identified as readOnlyMasterKey
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Audit session tokens created via loginAsQuery the Parse Server _Session class (using master key) for recent sessions and correlate with users who may have been logged in as by the readOnlyMasterKey accountAffected if Sessions exist that were created via the readOnlyMasterKey calling loginAs, indicating exploitation or testing of this functionality
You are affected if your Parse Server version falls within the vulnerable range AND readOnlyMasterKey is configured and has been used to access the /loginAs endpoint.
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.
dbcve · scoped8.6.6
Upgrade Parse Server to version 8.6.6 or later (or 9.5.0-alpha.4 for alpha releases) to patch the vulnerability. If immediate upgrading is not possible, audit usage of readOnlyMasterKey and consider disabling or restricting it until the upgrade can be performed.
8.6.6
- Identify the current Parse Server version running in your deployment
- Stop the Parse Server instance to prevent any active sessions during the upgrade
- Upgrade Parse Server to version 8.6.6 (recommended for production) or 9.5.0-alpha.4 if you are on the 9.x branch
- After upgrading, verify the readOnlyMasterKey can no longer call POST /loginAs to obtain session tokens for other users
- Restart Parse Server with the upgraded version
- Test that the readOnlyMasterKey can only perform read operations and cannot impersonate users
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-30229 — 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-2026-30229 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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