NetBird has Race Condition on UpdateUser Function, Resulting in Privilege Escalation From Admin to Owner

Exploitation

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

CVSS

4.4 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

EPSS

No dated EPSS signal available.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Summary A race condition vulnerability allows authenticated admin-privileged users to escalate to owner privilege. Details The vulnerability exists in the updateUser function, which is connected to the /users/{userId} PUT request. This function then calls the SaveOrAddUsers function, which checks the user's permissions on two separate occasions. The first check verifies whether the initiator is an admin or owner and rejects the request if the initiator is not. The second check retrieves the user role details from the database again and saves them in a variable called initiatorUser. SaveOrAddUsers Function Location: netbird/management/server/user.go — Line 556 Afterwards, the validateUserUpdate function is called, which checks if the initiator has permission to update that specific user's role. This validation is lacking, as it assumes the initiator is an admin or owner. In the case that the initiator is a regular user, these conditions do not apply, and the target can be updated to…

Published by the source

1 Apr 2026, 21:03 UTC

Last modified by the source

1 Apr 2026, 21:03 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:19 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-rxmp-8h9v-56cx

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# Patch Next advisory brief: GHSA-rxmp-8h9v-56cx

Advisory: NetBird has Race Condition on UpdateUser Function, Resulting in Privilege Escalation From Admin to Owner
IDs: GHSA-rxmp-8h9v-56cx
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/ghsa-rxmp-8h9v-56cx (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:19 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 4.4)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: github.com/netbirdio/netbird 0.65.3. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/netbirdio/netbird: affected <= 0.65.2; fixed in 0.65.3

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go github.com/netbirdio/netbird: check the installed version with your package manager.

## 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 github.com/netbirdio/netbird.
- 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://github.com/advisories/GHSA-rxmp-8h9v-56cx (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-rxmp-8h9v-56cx lists affected ranges: Go github.com/netbirdio/netbird >=0 <=0.65.2)

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