Pre-Authentication Admin Bypass and Remote Code Execution in Nutanix Prism Gateway inside AOS
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-84731 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | Nutanix |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-10-15 18:17:29 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-10-16 19:55:59 UTC |
| Description | An unauthenticated remote attacker can bypass authentication and gain full access to administrative API endpoints in Nutanix Prism Element by including a crafted internal management HTTP header. The vulnerability is caused by a misconfiguration in the application's authentication filters. Consequently, the server responds with a Set-Cookie header containing a valid JSESSIONID. This session cookie decodes to a JSON Web Token (JWT) granting maximum cluster administrative privileges. Successful exploitation allows the attacker to execute root-level commands on all Controller VMs (CVMs) in the cluster, leading to complete cluster destruction and unauthorized access to VM memory and virtual disks. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v4.0 9.3 CRITICAL from 2ffdacf6-8681-47df-b023-4f11abd61c1d
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:P/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:N/AU:Y/R:U/V:C/RE:H/U:Red
EPSS: 0.012830000 probability, percentile 0.696030000 (date 2026-10-16)
Problem Types: CWE-290 | CWE-302 | CWE-306 | CWE-306 CWE-306 Missing authentication for critical function | CWE-290 CWE-290 Authentication bypass by spoofing | CWE-302 CWE-302 Authentication bypass by Assumed-Immutable data
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 2ffdacf6-8681-47df-b023-4f11abd61c1d | Secondary | 9.3 | CRITICAL | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:P/C... |
| 4.0 | CNA | CVSS | 9.3 | CRITICAL | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:P/S... |
| 3.1 | 2ffdacf6-8681-47df-b023-4f11abd61c1d | Secondary | 9.8 | CRITICAL | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 3.1 | CNA | CVSS | 9.8 | CRITICAL | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 2.0 | 2ffdacf6-8681-47df-b023-4f11abd61c1d | Secondary | 10 | AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C | |
| 2.0 | CNA | CVSS | 10 | AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C |
CVSS v4.0 Breakdown
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:P/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:N/AU:Y/R:U/V:C/RE:H/U:Red
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS v2.0 Breakdown
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Nutanix | Acropolis Operating System AOS | affected 7.3.1.18 custom | Not specified |
| CNA | Nutanix | Acropolis Operating System AOS | affected 7.5 7.5.2 custom | Not specified |
| CNA | Nutanix | Acropolis Operating System AOS | affected 7.6 7.6.0.8 custom | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| www.nutanix.com/support | 2ffdacf6-8681-47df-b023-4f11abd61c1d | www.nutanix.com | |
| portal.nutanix.com/page/documents/list | 2ffdacf6-8681-47df-b023-4f11abd61c1d | portal.nutanix.com | |
| download.nutanix.com/alerts/Security_Advisory_0058.pdf | 2ffdacf6-8681-47df-b023-4f11abd61c1d | download.nutanix.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
Vendor Comments And Credit
Discovery Credit
CNA: Brandon McGrath (mez-0) (en)
Additional Advisory Data
| Source | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| CNA | 2026-08-26T17:47:00.000Z | Vulnerability reported to Nutanix via HackerOne |
| CNA | 2026-08-27T20:46:00.000Z | Proof of concept validated. |
| CNA | 2026-09-17T13:08:00.000Z | Remediation verified across affected release branches. |
| CNA | 2026-09-22T17:27:00.000Z | Fix integrated into AOS maintenance releases. |
| CNA | 2026-10-04T18:30:00.000Z | AOS version 7.6.0.8 released. |
| CNA | 2026-10-05T18:30:00.000Z | AOS version 7.3.1.18 released. |
| CNA | 2026-10-12T18:30:00.000Z | AOS version 7.5.2 released. |
| CNA | 2026-10-15T17:11:00.000Z | Public security advisory and CVE published. |
Solutions
CNA: Upgrade affected Nutanix AOS deployments to version 7.3.1.18, 7.5.2, 7.6.0.8 or later fixed releases.
Workarounds
CNA: Organizations can mitigate this issue prior to patching by enforcing the following controls: * Network Segmentation: Restrict access to the Prism Element management port (9440) strictly to dedicated management VLANs, jump boxes or authorized IP ranges. * Ingress Traffic Filtering: Configure upstream Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) or ingress reverse proxies to strip specific internal management headers from incoming API requests before they reach the cluster. Note on WAF Configuration workaround: Nutanix is willing to securely provide the exact header string via Support to verified existing customers who are temporarily unable to apply the patch.
Exploits
CNA: Proof-of-concept exploitation was validated during responsible disclosure. No public exploit code or automated attack toolkits are currently known to be publicly distributed.