CVE-2026-33503
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 · uneditedOry Kratos is an identity, user management and authentication system for cloud services. Prior to version 26.2.0, the ListCourierMessages Admin API in Ory Kratos is vulnerable to SQL injection due to flaws in its pagination implementation. Pagination tokens are encrypted using the secret configured in `secrets.pagination`. An attacker who knows this secret can craft their own tokens, including malicious tokens that lead to SQL injection. If this configuration value is not set, Kratos falls back to a default pagination encryption secret. Because this default value is publicly known, attackers can generate valid and malicious pagination tokens manually for installations where this secret is not set. As a first line of defense, immediately configure a custom value for `secrets.pagination` by generating a cryptographically secure random secret. Next, upgrade Kratos** to a fixed version, 26.2.0 or later, as soon as possible.
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 confidenceOry Kratos prior to v26.2.0 has a SQL injection vulnerability in the ListCourierMessages Admin API stemming from flawed pagination logic. Pagination tokens are encrypted using the `secrets.pagination` configuration value; when not set, a publicly known default secret is used, allowing attackers to craft malicious tokens that inject SQL.
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< 26.2.0CVSS 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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Determine Ory Kratos versionRun 'kratos version' or check the container/image version. If using a container, inspect the image tag or run 'kratos --version' inside the container.Affected if Version is below v26.2.0
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Verify Admin API exposureConfirm the Ory Kratos Admin API is accessible on the network. Check your reverse proxy, firewall, or Kubernetes service configuration for port 4434 (default Admin port) or your configured admin endpoint.Affected if The Admin API is exposed to untrusted networks or attackers can reach it
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Inspect secrets.pagination configurationReview your Kratos configuration file (e.g., kratos.yml) or environment variables. Look for the 'secrets' -> 'pagination' key. If the value is missing, commented out, or set to a default/static value, the vulnerability applies.Affected if secrets.pagination is not configured or uses the default secret value
You are affected if you run Ory Kratos version below v26.2.0, the Admin API is accessible, and secrets.pagination is not set to a unique cryptographically secure value.
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 · scoped26.2.0
Immediately configure a cryptographically secure random secret for `secrets.pagination` and upgrade to Kratos v26.2.0 or later.
26.2.0
- Configure a custom value for `secrets.pagination` in your Kratos configuration by generating a cryptographically secure random secret
- Upgrade Kratos to version 26.2.0 or later
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-33503 — 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-2026-33503 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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