CVE-2026-102114 in Kiteworks
Summary
by MITRE • 10/01/2026
A command injection vulnerability in Kiteworks could allow a high-privileged authenticated administrator to execute arbitrary operating-system commands as root on the affected appliance node. Successful exploitation requires an administrative account with elevated privileges.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/01/2026
The identified security flaw represents a critical severity issue within the Kiteworks platform, specifically manifesting as a command injection vulnerability that permits unauthorized execution of operating system-level commands. This type of vulnerability typically arises when an application fails to properly validate or sanitize user-supplied input before passing it to a system shell for processing. In this specific instance, the flaw allows an attacker who has already obtained administrative access with elevated privileges to inject malicious payloads into command strings executed by the underlying infrastructure. The presence of such a weakness indicates a fundamental lapse in secure coding practices regarding how external inputs are handled during internal operations that require high-level system permissions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe due to the privilege level required for exploitation and the resulting access granted upon success. Because successful exploitation necessitates an administrative account with elevated privileges, it suggests that the threat actor must first compromise or be granted legitimate high-privileged credentials within the Kiteworks environment. Once these credentials are obtained, the attacker can leverage the command injection flaw to execute arbitrary commands as the root user on the affected appliance node. This level of access effectively results in a complete system compromise, allowing the adversary to manipulate files, install backdoors, pivot to other network segments, or exfiltrate sensitive data stored within the platform without detection by standard application-level security controls.
From a classification perspective, this vulnerability aligns with Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) ID 78, which defines Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command, commonly known as OS Command Injection. The attack vector is categorized under MITRE ATT&CK technique T1059, specifically sub-technique T1059.004 for Unix Shell Commands, indicating that the attacker utilizes native shell capabilities to interact with the operating system directly rather than through application APIs. This direct interaction bypasses many of the logical controls and audit trails typically enforced at the application layer, making detection more challenging without specialized endpoint monitoring or network traffic analysis focused on command execution patterns.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must prioritize both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements. The primary corrective action is to apply the vendor-provided patch that addresses the input validation logic within the affected components of Kiteworks. Until patches are applied, administrators should enforce strict least-privilege principles by ensuring that administrative accounts do not possess unnecessary elevated privileges unless absolutely required for specific operational tasks. Additionally, implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all privileged accounts significantly reduces the risk of credential theft leading to exploitation. Network segmentation and robust endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions should be deployed to monitor for anomalous command execution patterns originating from application servers, providing an additional layer of defense against post-compromise activities facilitated by this vulnerability.