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Missing Authentication for Critical Function

CVE-2026-42221

Severity High
Score 9.8/10

Summary

Nginx UI is a web user interface for the Nginx web server. From version 2.0.0 prior to 2.3.8, an unauthenticated network attacker can claim the initial administrator account on a fresh nginx-ui instance during the first-run setup window. The public "/api/install" endpoint is reachable without authentication, and the request-encryption flow only protects payload confidentiality in transit; it does not authenticate who is allowed to perform installation. A remote attacker who reaches the service before the legitimate operator can set the admin email, username, and password, causing permanent initial-instance takeover. This issue has been patched in version 2.3.8.

  • LOW
  • NETWORK
  • HIGH
  • UNCHANGED
  • NONE
  • NONE
  • HIGH
  • HIGH

CWE-306 - Missing Authentication for Critical Function

The software does not perform any authentication for functionality that requires a provable user identity or consumes a significant amount of resources.

Advisory Timeline

  • Published