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OpenAdvisories
Medium · 6.6 CVE-2026-44725 EUVD-2026-63381

EMQX: Stale plugins allow grants amplify a compromised admin/API key to remote code execution

Published Aug 20, 2026 · Updated Aug 21, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M

Description

EMQX is a scalable and reliable MQTT broker for AI, IoT, IIoT, and connected vehicles. Prior to versions 5.8.11, 5.9.3, 5.10.4, 6.0.3, 6.1.2, and 6.2.1, the plugin-install REST API and dashboard upload accepted stale grants created with emqx ctl plugins allow because there was no five-minute grant lifetime or SHA-256 package binding. An attacker with a compromised dashboard administrator credential or API key with plugin-install permission who finds a stale allowed name and version can upload attacker-controlled bytes under the allowed .tar.gz filename through POST /api/v5/plugins/install or the dashboard plugin upload. The broker then installs and runs attacker-controlled Erlang code with the privileges of the EMQX process. This issue is fixed in versions 5.8.11, 5.9.3, 5.10.4, 6.0.3, 6.1.2, and 6.2.1.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
emqx emqx < 5.8.11, >= 5.9.0, < 5.9.3, >= 5.10.0, < 5.10.4, >= 6.0.0, < 6.0.3, >= 6.1.0, < 6.1.2, >= 6.2.0, < 6.2.1 —

References