CVE-2026-6848: Red Hat Quay Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2026-6848 Overview

A flaw was found in Red Hat Quay where the re-authentication prompt for sensitive operations can be bypassed. When Red Hat Quay requests password re-verification for sensitive operations, such as token generation or robot account creation, an attacker with access to an idle authenticated browser session or a user with a timed-out session can perform privileged actions without providing valid credentials. This authentication bypass vulnerability enables unauthorized execution of sensitive operations despite the user interface displaying an error for invalid credentials.

Critical Impact

This vulnerability allows attackers to bypass re-authentication controls for sensitive operations in Red Hat Quay, potentially enabling unauthorized token generation, robot account creation, and other privileged actions through hijacked or idle browser sessions.

Affected Products

• Red Hat Quay (specific versions not disclosed in advisory)

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-04-22 - CVE CVE-2026-6848 published to NVD
• 2026-04-22 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-6848

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-613 (Insufficient Session Expiration), indicating a fundamental flaw in how Red Hat Quay manages session state and re-authentication requirements. The application implements a security control that requests password re-verification before allowing users to perform sensitive operations such as generating API tokens or creating robot accounts. However, this re-authentication mechanism can be circumvented, allowing actions to proceed even when the session should require credential validation.

The attack can be conducted remotely over the network with low complexity, requiring only low-privilege authenticated access. The vulnerability results in potential impacts to both confidentiality and integrity of the system, as attackers can create persistent access mechanisms (tokens, robot accounts) without proper authorization verification.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability lies in improper session management and insufficient validation of the re-authentication workflow in Red Hat Quay. The application fails to properly enforce the re-authentication requirement at the backend, relying instead on client-side validation or an incomplete server-side check. When the UI displays an error for invalid credentials, the backend may still process the sensitive operation request, creating a disconnect between the displayed state and actual system behavior.

This is a classic example of insufficient session expiration handling, where the application does not properly validate that a session requiring re-authentication should be blocked from performing privileged operations until valid credentials are supplied.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for this vulnerability involves exploiting idle or timed-out browser sessions with existing authentication context. An attacker with physical or remote access to a user's authenticated browser session can:

1. Identify a session where the user has previously authenticated to Red Hat Quay
2. Attempt to perform a sensitive operation (token generation, robot account creation)
3. When prompted for re-authentication, provide invalid or no credentials
4. Despite the UI showing an authentication error, the sensitive operation may still be executed on the backend
5. The attacker gains unauthorized access to newly created tokens or robot accounts

This attack is particularly dangerous in shared workstation environments, compromised endpoints, or scenarios where attackers have session cookie access through other means such as XSS or network interception.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-6848

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected creation of robot accounts or API tokens in Red Hat Quay audit logs
• Authentication failure events followed immediately by successful sensitive operations from the same session
• Multiple failed re-authentication attempts from sessions that subsequently perform privileged actions

Detection Strategies

• Monitor Red Hat Quay audit logs for sensitive operations (token generation, robot account creation) and correlate with re-authentication success/failure events
• Implement alerting for privileged operations performed from sessions with recent authentication failures
• Review API access patterns for tokens created during suspicious timeframes

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable comprehensive audit logging in Red Hat Quay to capture all authentication and authorization events
• Implement session monitoring to detect idle sessions being reactivated for sensitive operations
• Configure SIEM rules to correlate authentication failures with subsequent privileged API calls

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-6848

Immediate Actions Required

• Review Red Hat Quay deployments for recent unauthorized token or robot account creations
• Audit and rotate any API tokens that may have been created through this vulnerability
• Implement additional network segmentation to limit access to Red Hat Quay management interfaces
• Consider implementing additional authentication controls at the network layer until a patch is available

Patch Information

Red Hat has published information about this vulnerability. Administrators should consult the Red Hat CVE-2026-6848 Advisory for official patch availability and installation guidance. Additional technical details are available in Red Hat Bug Report #2460119.

Workarounds

• Implement strict session timeout policies to minimize the window of opportunity for exploitation
• Configure browser security settings to prevent session persistence across browser restarts
• Educate users to explicitly log out of Red Hat Quay when leaving workstations unattended
• Consider implementing additional MFA requirements at the infrastructure level for Red Hat Quay access