CVE-2026-102490: Zammad GmbH Zammad Improper Privilege Management Vulnerability
Advisory generated from the CVE record, CISA, Exploit Observer and VEDAS: what it is, whether it is exploited, who is affected, and how to fix and detect it.
Generated by VEDAS. Scores as of 2026-11-01 19:19 UTC. Rebuilt every few hours from cve-scores, CISA KEV and vedas-signatures. How this works and its limits.
What it is
Zammad packages built with packager.io (DEB and RPM) could have allowed a local attacker who already had file system write privileges as the unprivileged zammad service account to escalate to full root privileges on the host. Service processes began running as root and executed files that were owned and writable by the zammad account before dropping their identity to that account. An attacker holding that foothold could have escalated within seconds, because the affected services were restarted automatically whenever they stopped; no administrator interaction was required. Only installations from the DEB and RPM packages were affected, installations from source or the official container images were not. All released packaged versions were affected.
Description quoted from the CVE record (assigned by DIVD, published 2026-09-30).
Weakness: CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management
How it can be exploited
Exploitable with local access with low attack complexity with no special attack requirements needing low privileges and no user interaction. Impact: confidentiality high, integrity high, availability high. CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:A/AU:Y/V:D
CISA assessment (SSVC): CISA assesses exploitation as active. Automatable: no. Technical impact: total.
- On CISA KEV since
- 2026-10-02
- US federal deadline
- 2026-10-05
- Ransomware use
- Not known
Public exploit evidence (Exploit Observer)
Also known as: EUVD-2026-90081, GHSA-hgff-g8g3-4xr8
Exploit Observer has no public exploit code that names this CVE or one of its aliases.
Research and write-ups (3)
- Research or write-up: https://community.zammad.org/t/take-care-local-privilege-escalation-cve-2026-102490-is-reported-as-being-actively-exploited/21297/2
- Research or write-up: https://csirt.divd.nl/CVE-2026-102490
- Research or write-up: https://zammad.com/en/advisories/cve-2026-102489-cve-2026-102490
Vulnerability databases and vendor advisories (4)
Catalogue entries, not exploit evidence.
- Vulnerability database or vendor advisory: https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/enisa/EUVD-2026-90081
- Vulnerability database or vendor advisory: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-hgff-g8g3-4xr8
- Vulnerability database or vendor advisory: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-102490
- Vulnerability database or vendor advisory: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-102490
13 more references returned by Exploit Observer did not name this CVE or an alias, so they are left out.
VEDAS data as of 2026-11-01T17:12 UTC; fetched 2026-11-02.
Live scores
- EPSS
- 0.109
likely to be attacked soon - VEDAS
- 0.533
some exploit evidence - On CISA KEV
- Yes, since 2026-10-02
- Detection rule
- Out of scope (local)
Thin horizontal line: the “likely” (EPSS 0.10) or “strong” (VEDAS 0.90) threshold. Shaded “no data” areas are periods when cve-scores did not publish.
Who is affected
| Product | Affected | Not affected |
|---|---|---|
| Zammad GmbH Zammad | from 1.5.0 before 7.2.2 | 7.2.2 is not affected (up to *) |
Version ranges exactly as the CVE record states them. “Before X” means X is the first fixed version.
Exploit Observer also maps it to: zammad zammad.
How to fix it
Fixed versions stated in the CVE record: 7.2.2.
CISA required action: Apply mitigations in accordance with vendor instructions, ensuring compliance with CISA’s BOD 26-04 Prioritizing Security Updates Based on Risk (see URL in Notes) guidance and CISA’s “Forensics Triage Requirements” (see URL in Notes). Follow applicable BOD 26-04 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. Stakeholders are responsible for evaluating each asset’s internet exposure and ensuring adherence to BOD 26-04 patching guidelines.
Vendor guidance:
- https://zammad.com/en/advisories/cve-2026-102489-cve-2026-102490 (vendor-advisory)
- https://github.com/zammad/zammad/security/advisories/GHSA-p97w-927q-8vxq (vendor-advisory, technical-description)
How to detect it
This bug needs local access to exploit. VEDAS signatures cover remotely exploitable bugs for now, so there is no network rule or remote check for it. Patch it and watch your endpoint telemetry for unusual local activity.
References
Vendor advisories and patches
- https://zammad.com/en/advisories/cve-2026-102489-cve-2026-102490 (vendor-advisory)
- https://github.com/zammad/zammad/security/advisories/GHSA-p97w-927q-8vxq (vendor-advisory, technical-description)
Exploits and technical analysis
- https://csirt.divd.nl/DIVD-2026-00015 (third-party-advisory)
- https://csirt.divd.nl/CVE-2026-102490 (third-party-advisory)
Government sources
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-102490 (government-resource)
Other databases
Where this comes from
This advisory is generated automatically by VEDAS from: CVE.org record, CISA KEV, cve-scores (EPSS and VEDAS), Exploit Observer. Text in quotes is reproduced from the source; everything else is a fixed template filled with source fields. Nothing here is written by a language model. Check the vendor advisory before acting, and read how VEDAS and Exploit Observer work, and their limits.