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CVE-2026-123198LMFDB template injection

High priorityCritical9.3EPSS 0.84%, higher than 58% of scored CVEs

CVE-2026-123198 is a template injection in LMFDB, rated critical (9.3 on CVSS 4.0).

Why this priority: Critical, and reachable over the network without an account.

Published · Updated · NVD status: Received

What it is

Input is rendered as part of a server-side template and can run code.

How it is reached

An attacker can exploit it over the network, without an account, and nobody has to click anything.

What an attacker gains

A successful attack can read the data it protects, change data or behaviour and take it offline. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker run commands or code with the privileges of the affected service.

Is it being exploited?

CISA's SSVC assessment notes a public proof of concept. It can be exploited automatically, at scale. EPSS estimates a 0.84% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 58% of scored CVEs.

What to do

  1. No fixed version is listed yet. Find every place LMFDB runs, watch the references for a fix, and plan a replacement if it is no longer supported.
  2. While there is no fix, keep it off the internet or behind a VPN, allowlist or authenticating proxy.

Description from NVD

LMFDB before commit 01829bd contains a server-side template injection vulnerability in the render_knowl function that allows unauthenticated attackers to inject Jinja expressions via request parameters. Attackers can supply crafted query-string values or 'content' data to /knowledge/render/<ID> to reach Python builtins and execute operating system commands as the web application account.

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

  • Application servers and the hosts they run on. The flaw sits between untrusted input and code or command execution.
  • Template engines. The flaw sits between untrusted input and code or command execution.

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 untrusted input and code or command execution. An attacker who crosses it can run commands or code with the privileges of the affected service.

Questions to answer about your own systems

  • Where does LMFDB 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.