CVE-2026-123270Redpanda Data Connect missing authentication
CVE-2026-123270 is a missing authentication in Redpanda Data Connect, rated critical (9.8 on CVSS 3.1).
Why this priority: Critical, and reachable over the network without an account.
Published · Updated · NVD status: Received
What it is
A function that should require sign-in can be called by anyone.
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 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.
What to do
- No fixed version is listed yet. Find every place Redpanda Data Connect runs, watch the references for a fix, and plan a replacement if it is no longer supported.
- While there is no fix, keep it off the internet or behind a VPN, allowlist or authenticating proxy.
Description from NVD
Redpanda Connect versions 4.39 to 4.110 contain a missing authentication vulnerability that enables unauthenticated remote code execution (RCE). In streams mode, the management HTTP API is exposed on `0.0.0.0:4195`, but authentication is disabled by default and there is no authentication gate protecting the stream CRUD routes. An unauthenticated attacker with network access to TCP/4195 can `POST` a malicious pipeline definition to `/streams/{id}` that includes code-executing processors such as `command`, `subprocess`, `ffi`, or unsafe `sql_raw`, thereby achieving arbitrary RCE on the host with the permissions of the Redpanda Connect service account. Because pipelines can also return command output in-band via HTTP, this vulnerability enables full host compromise, credential theft, and data exfiltration with no user interaction or credentials required.
Starting with v4.111, the API endpoint was reconfigured as opt-in, so this and later versions are no longer vulnerable by default. However, RCE remains achievable on v4.111 and later if the management API is manually enabled via the `--bind-http` flag.
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 Redpanda Data Connect 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.