CVE-2026-44874: ArubaOS Information Disclosure Vulnerability

CVE-2026-44874 Overview

CVE-2026-44874 is an information disclosure vulnerability in the web-based management interface of HPE Aruba Networking AOS-10 Gateway. An authenticated remote attacker with high privileges can access sensitive files on the underlying operating system. Successful exploitation could disclose confidential system information and enable follow-on attacks against the affected device.

The vulnerability is tracked under CWE-284: Improper Access Control and affects ArubaOS 10.8.0.0 and related AOS-10 Gateway builds. HPE has published a security advisory addressing the issue.

Critical Impact

An authenticated attacker can read arbitrary sensitive files from the gateway operating system, exposing credentials, configuration data, and other material useful for lateral movement.

Affected Products

• HPE Aruba Networking ArubaOS (AOS-10 Gateway)
• ArubaOS 10.8.0.0
• AOS-10 Gateway web-based management interface

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-05-12 - CVE-2026-44874 published to NVD
• 2026-05-15 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-44874

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in the web-based management interface of the AOS-10 Gateway. The interface fails to properly enforce access control on file resources, allowing an authenticated user to retrieve files that should remain restricted to the underlying operating system. The flaw is categorized as improper access control under CWE-284.

Exploitation requires valid credentials with elevated privileges on the management interface. The attack vector is network-based, meaning an attacker who can reach the management plane and authenticate can trigger the issue without user interaction. Impact is limited to confidentiality, with no direct effect on integrity or availability.

Disclosed material may include configuration files, credentials, certificates, and other system artifacts stored on the gateway. Attackers commonly chain such disclosures with credential reuse or further misconfigurations to escalate access.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing or insufficient authorization checks in file-handling routines exposed by the management web interface. The interface treats authenticated, privileged sessions as implicitly trusted to read backend file paths instead of validating each request against a defined permission boundary.

Attack Vector

An attacker authenticates to the AOS-10 Gateway web management interface using compromised or legitimate high-privilege credentials. The attacker then issues requests to file-handling endpoints to retrieve sensitive files from the gateway operating system. Retrieved contents are returned to the attacker through the same web session.

No verified public proof-of-concept code is available for CVE-2026-44874. Refer to the HPE Security Advisory for vendor technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-44874

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected administrative or high-privilege logins to the AOS-10 Gateway web management interface from unusual source addresses.
• Web access logs containing requests to file retrieval endpoints with suspicious path parameters or repeated download patterns.
• Outbound transfers of configuration or system files initiated from privileged management sessions.

Detection Strategies

• Review AOS-10 Gateway audit logs for authenticated sessions performing read operations against system file paths outside normal administrative workflows.
• Correlate management-plane authentication events with subsequent file access requests to identify abuse of valid credentials.
• Hunt for anomalies in the size, frequency, and timing of responses served by the management interface compared to baseline administrator activity.

Monitoring Recommendations

• Forward AOS-10 Gateway syslog and web management logs to a centralized SIEM or data lake for retention and correlation.
• Alert on management interface logins from sources outside approved administrative networks or jump hosts.
• Monitor changes to gateway configuration baselines and flag unauthorized read access to credential, certificate, and configuration files.

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-44874

Immediate Actions Required

• Apply the fixed AOS-10 software version specified in the HPE Security Advisory as soon as it can be scheduled.
• Restrict access to the AOS-10 Gateway web management interface to a dedicated management VLAN or jump host network.
• Rotate credentials and certificates that may have been exposed on the affected gateways, especially for high-privilege accounts.

Patch Information

HPE has published vendor guidance for CVE-2026-44874 in the advisory hpesbnw05048en_us. Administrators should consult the HPE Security Advisory for the specific fixed ArubaOS releases applicable to their AOS-10 Gateway deployments and upgrade according to vendor procedures.

Workarounds

• Limit management interface exposure to trusted administrator subnets using access control lists until patches are applied.
• Enforce strong authentication and least privilege on AOS-10 administrative accounts to reduce the population of users able to trigger the flaw.
• Audit and reduce the number of accounts with high-privilege roles on the gateway management plane.

# Example: restrict AOS-10 Gateway management access to a trusted subnet
ip access-list session mgmt-restrict
  user alias trusted-admins any permit
  user any any deny
!
interface mgmt
  ip access-group mgmt-restrict in