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High, CVSS 8.8amended

Budibase: Builder-to-Admin Privilege Escalation via onboardUsers Endpoint Without SMTP Configuration

CVE-2026-45716GHSA-c54j-xp92-wh28

What to do

Vendor fix available. Upgrade each affected package to the fixed version on its release line (@budibase/worker 3.38.1), redeploy, then verify what is actually installed.

This page has no inventory attached, so it cannot say whether you are affected. A vendor fix is not proof that your deployment is fixed.

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Affected packages

Sources

Severity and exploitation
Exploitation
No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.
CVSS
8.8 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS
  • CVE-2026-45716: 0.26% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 17.93 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.
Source description

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Summary The POST /api/global/users/onboard endpoint is protected by workspaceBuilderOrAdmin middleware, allowing any user with builder permissions to access it. When SMTP email is not configured (the default for self-hosted Budibase instances), this endpoint bypasses the admin-restricted invite flow and directly creates users via bulkCreate, accepting arbitrary admin and builder role assignments from the request body. A builder-level user can create a new global admin account and receive the generated password in the response, achieving full privilege escalation. Details The vulnerability stems from a mismatch between the authorization level of the onboardUsers endpoint and the user-creation capabilities it exposes when SMTP is not configured. Route definition (packages/worker/src/api/routes/global/users.ts:93-109): Compare with the invite and inviteMultiple endpoints which are correctly admin-only: Controller (packages/worker/src/api/controllers/global/users.ts:601-630): Middleware…

Dates and revisions
Published by the source
Last modified by the source
Source last checked
  1. Revision 2 · amended ·

    Amended from ghsa record GHSA-c54j-xp92-wh28

  2. Revision 1 · created ·

    Published from osv record GHSA-c54j-xp92-wh28

Agent brief

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-45716

Advisory: Budibase: Builder-to-Admin Privilege Escalation via onboardUsers Endpoint Without SMTP Configuration
IDs: CVE-2026-45716, GHSA-c54j-xp92-wh28
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-45716 (revision 2, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 12:53 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.8)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: @budibase/worker 3.38.1. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- npm @budibase/worker: affected < 3.38.1; fixed in 3.38.1

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `npm ls @budibase/worker --all`: lists every installed copy and version, including transitive ones. Run in the project root after `npm ci`.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on @budibase/worker.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-c54j-xp92-wh28 (OSV record GHSA-c54j-xp92-wh28 lists affected ranges: npm @budibase/worker >=0 <3.38.1 (fixed))
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-c54j-xp92-wh28 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-c54j-xp92-wh28 lists affected ranges: npm @budibase/worker >=0 <3.38.1)

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