CVE
OpenEMR patient record exposure in patient validation module
Affects OpenEMR before 8.5.0 when an administrator has activated the opt-in Patient Validation module. Fixed in 8.5.0.
Written by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5 from the sources below. Verify against them.
- Exploited
- No known exploitation
- Fix
- Fixed in 8.5.0
- Who is exposed
- Specific setups only
Do first: Check whether your setup matches what the bug needs. The Patient Validation module is activated by an administrator, which is an opt-in feature. OpenEMR versions before 8.5.0.
- Published
- Last modified
- Whether it needs action now or is a reference record, by fixed rules, with why. Last checked is when cve.now last re-read it.What do these mean? →
- Reference
- Last checked
- A 0-100 score for how much a CVE matters across the industry: exploitation, exposure, how widely the software is used, severity and whether a fix exists.What do these mean? →
- 15/100 · provisional
- How many real-world setups can hit the bug, from the vendor's advisory and CISA data. It does not know your setup.What do these mean? →
- Specific setups only
- Whether working attack code is public (Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei or GitHub). Public code makes attacks easier.What do these mean? →
- None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub
Summary
OpenEMR before 8.5.0 contains a missing authorization vulnerability in the Patient Validation module that allows any authenticated user to retrieve patient demographic records. Attackers can send direct requests with wildcard mf_lname or empty mf_ parameters to the patientvalidation endpoint to enumerate the entire patient_data table.
Who should check
Teams running OpenEMR before 8.5.0 with the Patient Validation module activated, such as clinic and hospital IT staff hosting OpenEMR.
Read the source excerpt
“OpenEMR before 8.5.0 contains a missing authorization vulnerability”
cve.now Index
- Exploitation?/40Unknown. No CISA SSVC exploitation rating yet
- Exposure8/25Specific setups only, reachable over the network
- Reach?/20Unknown. No tracked technology or package matched
- Severity7.1/10CVSS 7.1
- No patch0/5No signal
What would change the score
- Would score about 65 if added to CISA KEV
- Would score about 60 if CISA's SSVC rates exploitation active
- Would score about 22 if CISA's SSVC rates it automatable
What to do
Check whether your setup matches what the bug needs.
The Patient Validation module is activated by an administrator, which is an opt-in feature. OpenEMR versions before 8.5.0.Upgrade to a fixed version: 8.5.0.
Check your systems with an agent
Paste this into a coding or ops agent. It checks your systems read-only and reports a table per asset.
Check whether my systems are affected by CVE-2026-126415 (OpenEMR before 8.5.0 Missing Authorization via Patientvalidation Module), using the cve.now data below.
Rules: work read-only. Do not run exploit code, proof-of-concept scripts or scanners that send attack payloads, and do not change any configuration, package, image or deployment. Report findings only.
What cve.now has for CVE-2026-126415 (entry last updated 2026-11-13):
Affected:
- openemr openemr: fixed in 8.5.0
Fixed versions: 8.5.0.
Conditions (all must be true for the bug to be hit):
- The Patient Validation module is activated by an administrator, which is an opt-in feature. (source: https://github.com/openemr/openemr/security/advisories/GHSA-q4jf-6gcg-m3jx)
- OpenEMR versions before 8.5.0. (source: https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openemr-before-8.5.0-missing-authorization-via-patientvalidation-module)
Setup: the bug needs a feature or setting that is off by default or uncommon. Check whether each asset has it on.
Attacker needs: network access, low-privilege login, no user action.
CISA KEV: CVE-2026-126415 is not listed as of cve.now's last read.
This KEV status is for CVE-2026-126415 only. If you also check another CVE, look up its own KEV status; never assume it from this one.
How to check:
- Installed software: check what is actually running, not what a repo declares. Read the version from each host, container image and Kubernetes node (the binary's version output, the OS package database, image layers), and check whether the conditions above hold there. Distribution packages may carry a backported fix under an older version number; confirm against the distribution's own advisory.
Verify against the linked advisories before concluding, and cite the date you read each one:
- https://github.com/openemr/openemr/security/advisories/GHSA-q4jf-6gcg-m3jx
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openemr-before-8.5.0-missing-authorization-via-patientvalidation-module
Do not conclude an asset is unaffected unless you checked it and the evidence covers both its version and the conditions above. If you could not check something, mark it unknown and say what is missing.
Report a table with one row per asset and these columns: Asset | Version or build | Status (affected, fixed, not applicable, unknown) | Compensating controls | Exposure (internet-facing, internal, none) | Evidence | Next action.
Entry: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-126415
For follow-up questions, use the cve.now MCP server at https://mcp.cve.now/mcp (no authentication), for example execute with name cve.get and arguments {"id": "CVE-2026-126415"}.Timeline
- CVE published
- First seen by cve.now
Affected versions
- openemr openemr
fixed in 8.5.0
Evidence 4
Vendor advisory · 1
Establishes: Affected and fixed versions.
- Advisory
CVE record · 2
Establishes: The identifier and description.
- Record
- Record
Corrections
None so far.
Something wrong on this page? Report an error. Every fix is listed here.
Questions about CVE-2026-126415
Is CVE-2026-126415 being exploited?
It is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and CISA's SSVC assessment does not mark exploitation as active. That does not mean it has not been attacked: vendors and researchers can report attacks before CISA lists them. No public exploit code is tracked.Source: cve.now feed data
What does this mean?
The Patient Validation module does not check authorization properly, so any logged-in user can read full demographic records for any patient in the system. A single wildcard request can also list the entire patient roster.Source: github.com, vulncheck.com
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-126415?
openemr: before 8.5.0.Source: cve.now feed data
Am I affected, and how do I check?
OpenEMR versions before 8.5.0 are affected, but only where an administrator has activated the Patient Validation module, which is opt-in. To check, confirm your OpenEMR version and whether the Patient Validation module is enabled in the admin module settings.Source: github.com, vulncheck.com
How do I fix CVE-2026-126415?
Upgrade OpenEMR to 8.5.0 or later, which is the fixed version listed for this vulnerability.Source: github.com, vulncheck.com