CVE-2026-23981 in Superset
Summary
by MITRE • 07/30/2026
An Improper Authorization vulnerability exists in Apache Superset allowing an authenticated user with permissions to update charts to modify dashboards they do not own. When updating a chart's properties via the REST API, a user can provide a list of dashboard IDs (dashboards) to associate the chart with. The validation logic in the UpdateChartCommand failed to verify that the user had write permissions for the target dashboards specified in the request body.
This issue affects Apache Superset: before 6.0.0.
Users are recommended to upgrade to version 6.0.0, which fixes the issue.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/30/2026
The vulnerability under discussion represents a critical improper authorization flaw within Apache Superset that fundamentally undermines the application's access control mechanisms. This weakness allows authenticated users to escalate their privileges through unauthorized dashboard modifications, creating a significant security risk for organizations relying on the platform for data visualization and business intelligence. The vulnerability specifically targets the REST API functionality where chart update operations are processed, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited remotely without requiring elevated privileges or additional authentication tokens.
The technical root cause of this issue lies within the UpdateChartCommand validation logic which fails to properly enforce authorization checks against target dashboard resources. When an authenticated user submits a chart update request through the REST API, they can include a list of dashboard identifiers in the request payload that specifies which dashboards should be associated with the updated chart. However, the system's authorization layer neglects to verify whether the requesting user possesses the necessary write permissions for each of the specified dashboards in the target list. This validation gap creates a direct path for privilege escalation where users can associate charts with dashboards they do not own or have access to, effectively bypassing the intended access control policies.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability enables malicious actors or compromised legitimate users to manipulate dashboard associations in ways that could lead to unauthorized data exposure, information disclosure, and potential system compromise. An attacker could potentially link sensitive charts to public dashboards, aggregate data from multiple departments into a single view, or create misleading visualizations that could mislead stakeholders about business operations. The vulnerability affects all versions of Apache Superset prior to 6.0.0, making it particularly concerning for organizations that have not yet upgraded their deployments. This issue directly relates to CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization within software systems, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078.004 for valid accounts and privilege escalation through unauthorized resource manipulation.
The remediation strategy focuses on upgrading to Apache Superset version 6.0.0 or later, where the authorization validation has been properly implemented to verify that users possess appropriate write permissions for all target dashboards before allowing chart associations. Organizations should also conduct comprehensive security audits of their existing deployments to identify any unauthorized dashboard associations that may have occurred prior to the upgrade. Additional mitigations include implementing network-level restrictions on the REST API endpoints, monitoring access logs for unusual chart-to-dashboard association patterns, and ensuring that regular security assessments are performed to detect similar authorization flaws in other components of the data platform infrastructure.