Splunk Enterprise up to 9.4.13/10.0.8/10.2.5/10.4.1 Distributed Search Authentication Token Endpoint improper authentication

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Splunk Enterprise up to 9.4.13/10.0.8/10.2.5/10.4.1 and classified as very critical. The impacted element is an unknown function of the component Distributed Search Authentication Token Endpoint. Performing a manipulation results in improper authentication. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-76338. The attack may be initiated remotely. There is no available exploit.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical has been found in Splunk Enterprise up to 9.4.13/10.0.8/10.2.5/10.4.1. This affects an unknown part of the component Distributed Search Authentication Token Endpoint. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a improper authentication vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-287. When an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In Splunk Enterprise versions below 10.4.2, 10.2.6, 10.0.9, and 9.4.14, an unauthenticated user who has access to a trusted distributed search private key could forge an administrative session token, access all relevant data, affect system integrity, and disrupt service availability. The vulnerability is possible because the distributed search authentication token endpoint does not require a signed request to identify a configured search peer, allowing the request to fall back to shared local key material. For more information see About distributed search (https://help.splunk.com/en/splunk-enterprise/administer/distributed-search/10.4/overview-of-distributed-search/about-distributed-search) and authentication.conf (https://help.splunk.com/en/splunk-enterprise/administer/admin-manual/10.4/configuration-file-reference/10.4.2-configuration-file-reference/authentication.conf) in Splunk documentation.

It is possible to read the advisory at advisory.splunk.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-76338 since 08/19/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not publicly available. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/20/2026).

Upgrading to version 9.4.14, 10.0.9, 10.2.6 or 10.4.2 eliminates this vulnerability.

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Productinfo

Type

• Log Management Software

Vendor

• Splunk

Name

• Enterprise

Version

• 9.4.0
• 9.4.1
• 9.4.2
• 9.4.3
• 9.4.4
• 9.4.5
• 9.4.6
• 9.4.7
• 9.4.8
• 9.4.9
• 9.4.10
• 9.4.11
• 9.4.12
• 9.4.13
• 10.0.0
• 10.0.1
• 10.0.2
• 10.0.3
• 10.0.4
• 10.0.5
• 10.0.6
• 10.0.7
• 10.0.8
• 10.2.0
• 10.2.1
• 10.2.2
• 10.2.3
• 10.2.4
• 10.2.5
• 10.4.0
• 10.4.1

License

• commercial

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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