CVE-2026-7329 in MarkLogic Server
Summary
by MITRE • 08/05/2026
An improper privilege management vulnerability in the SQL, SPARQL, and Optic REST query interfaces of Progress MarkLogic Server before 11.3.6 and 12.0.3 allows an authenticated user with a low-privileged REST role to escalate privileges to administrator. This enables execution of privileged operations and unauthorized data access.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/05/2026
This vulnerability represents a critical privilege escalation flaw in Progress MarkLogic Server that undermines the fundamental security model of the database system. The issue affects multiple query interfaces including SQL, SPARQL, and Optic REST endpoints, creating a broad attack surface that malicious actors can exploit to gain administrative control. The vulnerability stems from inadequate access control mechanisms that fail to properly enforce privilege boundaries between different user roles within the server architecture. According to CWE-276, this manifests as incorrect permissions management where low-privileged users can bypass intended security controls through flawed authorization logic in the REST API layer.
The technical implementation of this flaw allows authenticated users with minimal privileges to manipulate query parameters or request structures that should normally be restricted to administrators. Through careful exploitation of the REST interfaces, attackers can construct specific requests that escalate their privileges by leveraging inherent weaknesses in how the server validates user permissions during query processing. This privilege escalation occurs because the system fails to maintain proper session isolation and access control enforcement across different query execution contexts. The vulnerability is particularly concerning as it operates within the legitimate REST API pathways that administrators typically use for database management, making detection more difficult.
Operationally, this vulnerability enables attackers to execute operations that are normally restricted to privileged users, including but not limited to data manipulation, schema changes, and access to sensitive information that should be protected from unauthorized users. The impact extends beyond simple privilege escalation as it provides full administrative capabilities within the MarkLogic environment, potentially allowing for complete data exfiltration, system modification, or denial of service conditions. Organizations using affected versions of MarkLogic Server face significant risk if their REST interfaces are accessible to untrusted users or if internal users with low-privileged roles can be compromised through social engineering or other attack vectors.
The recommended mitigation strategy involves immediate deployment of the vendor-provided security patches for both MarkLogic Server 11.3.6 and 12.0.3 versions, which address the underlying privilege validation logic in the affected REST query interfaces. Network segmentation should be implemented to restrict access to REST endpoints to only trusted administrative networks, while also enforcing strict authentication controls including multi-factor authentication for all user accounts. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough access control reviews to ensure that users have only the minimum required privileges for their legitimate operations, implementing the principle of least privilege as outlined in NIST SP 800-53 security controls. Monitoring and logging mechanisms should be enhanced to detect anomalous usage patterns that might indicate privilege escalation attempts, with alerts configured for unusual administrative operations performed by non-administrative accounts.