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OpenAdvisories
Critical · 9.0 CVE-2026-42238 EUVD-2026-27141GHSA-4pvg-prr3-9cxrGO-2026-5129

Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution via Backup Restore in nginx-ui

Published May 4, 2026 · Updated May 5, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M

Description

Nginx UI is a web user interface for the Nginx web server. Prior to version 2.3.8, nginx-ui exposes a backup restore endpoint (POST /api/restore) that is completely unauthenticated during the first 10 minutes after process startup on any fresh installation. An unauthenticated remote attacker can upload a crafted backup archive that overwrites the application's configuration file (app.ini) and SQLite database. Because the attacker controls the restored app.ini, they can inject an arbitrary OS command into the TestConfigCmd setting. After the application automatically restarts to apply the restored config, a single follow-up request triggers that command as the user running nginx-ui — typically root in Docker deployments. This issue has been patched in version 2.3.8.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
0xJacky nginx-ui < 2.3.8 —

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Leap 16.0 govulncheck-vulndb 0.0.20260723T184607-160000.1.1 openSUSE-SU-2026:21483-1

Affected packages

EcosystemPackageAffectedFixedRecord
Go github.com/0xJacky/nginx-ui < 2.3.8 2.3.8 GHSA-4pvg-prr3-9cxr
Go github.com/0xJacky/nginx-ui all versions — GO-2026-5129

Advisories 2

References