Crawl4AI: LLM credential exfiltration in Docker server via request base_url and env: token resolution

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS 4.0

8.8 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X · score source

EPSS

• CVE-2026-56259: 0.43% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 37.67 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Summary The Docker API server let a request control where LLM calls were sent and which environment variable an LLM token resolved from. Both could be abused to exfiltrate server-held secrets. The Docker API is unauthenticated by default. Vector 1 - attacker baseurl /md, /llm, and /llm/job accepted a baseurl in the request and used it as the LLM endpoint while still attaching the server's configured provider API key. An attacker set baseurl to a server they control and received the provider key (and any provider keys the server holds) in the inbound request. Vector 2 - arbitrary environment variable read via env: LLMConfig(apitoken="env:NAME") resolved NAME from the server environment with os.getenv. Because request bodies were deserialized into LLMConfig (via a crawler config / extraction strategy), an attacker could set apitoken="env:SECRETKEY" (or env:REDISPASSWORD, etc.) and, paired with an attacker baseurl, exfiltrate that secret. Reading the server's SECRETKEY enables forging…

Published by the source

16 Jun 2026, 21:00 UTC

Last modified by the source

15 Jul 2026, 20:11 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 13:45 UTC

1. Revision 3 · amended · 26 Oct 2026

   Amended from ghsa record GHSA-f989-c77f-r2cq

2. Revision 2 · amended · 24 Oct 2026

   Reviewed OSV alias/range/CVSS4 correction; package source scopes and original publication preserved. No customer finding resolved.

3. Revision 1 · created · 24 Oct 2026

   Published from osv record GHSA-f989-c77f-r2cq

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-56259

Advisory: Crawl4AI: LLM credential exfiltration in Docker server via request base_url and env: token resolution
IDs: CVE-2026-56259, GHSA-f989-c77f-r2cq
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-56259 (revision 3, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 13:45 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: crawl4ai 0.8.8. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- PyPI crawl4ai: affected <= 0.8.7; fixed in 0.8.8

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `python -m pip show crawl4ai`: prints the installed version. Run with the environment that serves production active.

## 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 crawl4ai.
- 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-f989-c77f-r2cq (OSV record GHSA-f989-c77f-r2cq lists affected ranges: PyPI crawl4ai >=0 <0.8.8 (fixed))
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-f989-c77f-r2cq (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-f989-c77f-r2cq lists affected ranges: PyPI crawl4ai >=0 <=0.8.7)

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