CVE-2026-113373Sonatype Nexus Repository 3 weak authentication
CVE-2026-113373 is a weak authentication in Sonatype Nexus Repository 3, rated critical (9.1 on CVSS 4.0).
Why this priority: Critical, and reachable over the network without an account.
Published · Updated · NVD status: Undergoing Analysis
What it is
The sign-in check can be passed without proving who the caller is.
How it is reached
An attacker can exploit it over the network, without an account, and nobody has to click anything. Success also depends on conditions the attacker does not fully control.
What an attacker gains
A successful attack can read the data it protects and change data or behaviour. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker act as a signed-in user, or an administrator, without valid credentials.
Is it being exploited?
There is no public report of exploitation yet. It can be exploited automatically, at scale. EPSS estimates a 0.25% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 16% of scored CVEs.
What to do
- Upgrade Sonatype Nexus Repository 3 to 3.98.0 or later.
- Until it is patched, keep it off the internet or behind a VPN, allowlist or authenticating proxy.
Description from NVD
Sonatype Nexus Repository 3 Pro does not check the local account status when a user signs in through a configured SAML or OAuth2/OpenID Connect identity provider. A user whose account was disabled or locked by an administrator in Nexus Repository can sign in again with valid identity provider credentials for the same account, and then receives a new session with the roles of that account. The attacker needs no Nexus Repository session and no Nexus Repository privilege. The attacker needs a named account that holds valid credentials at the identity provider. The anonymous user is not part of this attack path.
What this means for your architecture.
A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.
Components it touches
- Sign-in, session and token handling. The flaw sits between anonymous callers and authenticated sessions.
- Identity providers and SSO. The flaw sits between anonymous callers and authenticated sessions.
Trust boundaries in play
- Internet-facing entry points. No account is needed. Any instance reachable from outside your perimeter, through a load balancer, gateway, VPN or exposed admin port, is in scope.
- Between anonymous callers and authenticated sessions. An attacker who crosses it can act as a signed-in user, or an administrator, without valid credentials.
Questions to answer about your own systems
- Where does Sonatype Nexus Repository 3 run in your systems, and at which version?
- Which of those instances can be reached from the internet or partner networks?
- What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?
Sources
- CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
- Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
- Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.