CVE-2026-9765: Broken Access Control Vulnerability

CVE-2026-9765 Overview

CVE-2026-9765 is a broken access control vulnerability [CWE-284] disclosed in a Grafana security advisory. The flaw allows an authenticated attacker with low privileges to bypass access control checks and reach resources outside their authorization scope. According to the vendor advisory, the issue was determined to affect cloud-hosted deployments. Exploitation can enable unauthorized data access, actions performed on behalf of other users, and privilege escalation attempts against the application. The vulnerability is network-reachable and requires low attack complexity, but no user interaction.

Critical Impact
An authenticated attacker can bypass access control checks to modify resources belonging to other users, escalate privileges, and potentially take over accounts.

Affected Products

Grafana (see vendor advisory for affected versions)
Grafana Cloud deployments referenced in the vendor advisory
Refer to the Grafana Security Advisory CVE-2026-9765 for the authoritative product and version list

Discovery Timeline

2026-07-24 - CVE-2026-9765 published to NVD
2026-07-30 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-9765

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a broken access control weakness classified under [CWE-284]. Broken access control occurs when an application fails to correctly enforce restrictions on what authenticated users are allowed to do. In this case, an attacker holding valid low-privilege credentials can reach functionality or data that should require higher privileges. The impact profile weights integrity heavily, with limited availability impact and no direct confidentiality loss reported by the vendor. This aligns with a scenario where the attacker can perform state-changing actions on resources they do not own.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing or insufficient authorization enforcement within the application's request handling logic. The application authenticates the caller but does not consistently verify that the caller is permitted to operate on the requested resource. Access decisions rely on flawed checks that can be bypassed by manipulating request parameters or resource identifiers.

Attack Vector

The attacker sends crafted HTTP requests to the application over the network using a valid low-privilege account. By targeting endpoints that fail to validate ownership or role, the attacker performs operations against resources belonging to other users or roles. No user interaction is required, and the attack complexity is low. Consult the Grafana Security Advisory CVE-2026-9765 for endpoint-specific technical details.

No verified public exploit code is available at this time. Refer to the vendor advisory for technical specifics.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-9765

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected write, update, or delete operations performed by low-privilege accounts against resources owned by other users or organizations.
Repeated HTTP requests from a single authenticated session iterating through resource identifiers such as dashboard IDs, folder IDs, or user IDs.
Audit log entries showing role or permission changes initiated by accounts that do not hold administrative privileges.

Detection Strategies

Correlate authenticated API request logs with the acting user's assigned role to flag actions inconsistent with least privilege.
Baseline normal per-user resource access patterns and alert on deviations, such as a viewer account modifying folder-level permissions.
Monitor for HTTP 200 responses to endpoints that should return 403 for the requesting role, indicating a bypass.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable and centralize Grafana audit logs, then forward them to a SIEM for correlation with authentication events.
Track privilege changes, API token creation, and cross-organization resource access on a continuous basis.
Alert on bursts of failed and successful authorization decisions from the same session within a short window.

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-9765

Immediate Actions Required

Review the Grafana Security Advisory CVE-2026-9765 and apply the fixed release identified by the vendor.
Rotate API tokens and service account credentials for any Grafana instance that may have been exposed to untrusted users.
Audit user roles and remove excessive permissions, particularly for shared or dormant accounts.

Patch Information

Grafana has published a security advisory for CVE-2026-9765. Consult the Grafana Security Advisory CVE-2026-9765 for fixed versions and upgrade instructions.

Workarounds

Restrict access to the Grafana user interface and API to trusted networks using firewall rules or a reverse proxy access list.
Disable self-service signup and reduce the default role assigned to new users to the minimum required.
Enforce strong authentication and short-lived API tokens to limit the impact of a compromised low-privilege account.

bash

# Configuration example: reduce default privileges and disable self-signup in grafana.ini
[users]
allow_sign_up = false
auto_assign_org_role = Viewer

[auth.anonymous]
enabled = false