An unauthenticated remote attacker can bypass authentication and gain full access to administrative API endpoints in Nutanix Prism Element by including a crafted internal management HTTP header. The vulnerability is caused by a misconfiguration in the application's authentication filters. Consequently, the server responds with a Set-Cookie header containing a valid JSESSIONID. This session cookie decodes to a JSON Web Token (JWT) granting maximum cluster administrative privileges. Successful exploitation allows the attacker to execute root-level commands on all Controller VMs (CVMs) in the cluster, leading to complete cluster destruction and unauthorized access to VM memory and virtual disks.
History

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 20:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'yes', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Thu, 15 Oct 2026 17:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description An unauthenticated remote attacker can bypass authentication and gain full access to administrative API endpoints in Nutanix Prism Element by including a crafted internal management HTTP header. The vulnerability is caused by a misconfiguration in the application's authentication filters. Consequently, the server responds with a Set-Cookie header containing a valid JSESSIONID. This session cookie decodes to a JSON Web Token (JWT) granting maximum cluster administrative privileges. Successful exploitation allows the attacker to execute root-level commands on all Controller VMs (CVMs) in the cluster, leading to complete cluster destruction and unauthorized access to VM memory and virtual disks.
Title Pre-Authentication Admin Bypass and Remote Code Execution in Nutanix Prism Gateway inside AOS
First Time appeared Nutanix
Nutanix aos
Weaknesses CWE-290
CWE-302
CWE-306
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:nutanix:aos_:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Nutanix
Nutanix aos
References
Metrics cvssV2_0

{'score': 10, 'vector': 'AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C'}

cvssV3_1

{'score': 9.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

cvssV4_0

{'score': 9.3, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:P/S:N/AU:Y/R:U/V:C/RE:H/U:Red'}


cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Nutanix

Published: 2026-10-15T17:10:29.432Z

Updated: 2026-10-15T19:14:57.185Z

Reserved: 2026-09-02T06:41:54.722Z

Link: CVE-2026-84731

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-10-15T19:11:37.291Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2026-10-15T18:17:29.960

Modified: 2026-10-16T19:55:59.740

Link: CVE-2026-84731

cve-icon Redhat

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