CVE-2026-74245 in OpenShift Update Service
Summary
by MITRE • 08/15/2026
A flaw was found in Red Hat Quay's exported logs feature. An unauthenticated attacker with a valid file ID could download exported action logs without proper authorization. While file IDs are complex, they can be intercepted from plaintext email or webhook callbacks. This vulnerability leads to information disclosure, potentially exposing sensitive data such as usernames, email addresses, IP addresses, and action-specific metadata.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/15/2026
This vulnerability resides within Red Hat Quay's exported logs functionality, representing a critical authorization bypass flaw that undermines the system's security posture. The issue stems from insufficient access controls governing the retrieval of action logs, allowing unauthenticated attackers to exploit valid file identifiers to obtain sensitive data. The vulnerability demonstrates a clear breakdown in the principle of least privilege, where the system fails to properly verify user authentication status before granting access to log data that contains potentially sensitive operational information.
The technical implementation flaw manifests through the predictable nature of file identifier generation within the export mechanism. While the system employs complex file ID structures designed to prevent casual guesswork, these identifiers remain vulnerable to interception during transmission phases such as email notifications or webhook callbacks where they appear in plaintext formats. This exposure creates an attack surface where malicious actors can capture valid file IDs and subsequently leverage them to access restricted log data without proper authentication credentials.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, creating potential risks for organizational security infrastructure. The exposed data includes usernames which could facilitate credential stuffing attacks against other systems, email addresses that serve as targets for social engineering campaigns, IP addresses that reveal network topology information, and action-specific metadata that provides insights into system usage patterns and operational behaviors. This comprehensive data exposure creates opportunities for attackers to conduct reconnaissance activities and plan more sophisticated attacks against the affected organization.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization issues in software systems, specifically highlighting the lack of proper access control verification mechanisms. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this weakness maps to techniques involving credential access through information discovery and initial access via compromised identifiers. Organizations utilizing Red Hat Quay should implement immediate mitigations including enhanced file ID generation algorithms that incorporate time-based tokens or session-specific identifiers, along with mandatory authentication checks for all log retrieval operations regardless of identifier validity.
Additional defensive measures should include monitoring for unusual log access patterns and implementing rate limiting mechanisms to prevent automated enumeration attacks against the export functionality. The system should also enforce secure transmission protocols for webhook callbacks and email notifications to prevent plaintext exposure of file identifiers during transit. Organizations should consider implementing multi-factor authentication requirements for administrative log access and establish regular security audits to identify similar authorization bypass vulnerabilities across their software infrastructure.
The incident underscores broader security principles regarding the importance of defense in depth and proper separation of concerns in system design. Even when implementing complex identifier systems, organizations must ensure that access controls remain robust and comprehensive throughout all phases of data handling and transmission. The vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly secure design elements can be undermined by poor implementation practices in access control verification mechanisms, highlighting the critical need for thorough security testing and code review processes that examine both the strength of cryptographic components and the integrity of authorization logic.