Google Compute Engine: Missing authorization in disk snapshot APIs
Summary
The disks.createSnapshot and regionDisks.createSnapshot APIs of Google Compute Engine lacked an authorization check. An authenticated attacker could exfiltrate disk data across projects without the required IAM permissions. Google patched the issue on 31 August 2026 on its side, and customers need not take action.
Affected
- Google Compute Engine versions prior to 2026-08-31 (Google Cloud Platform)
- Vulnerable APIs: disks.createSnapshot and regionDisks.createSnapshot
Fixed in
- Patched by Google on 31 August 2026 (service-side fix, no customer action required)
Workaround
- None required according to the vendor, as the fix is server-side.
Exploitation
- Not known to be exploited (OffSeq).
- No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB as of 26 October 2026.
- CISA KEV listing not confirmed by a primary source.
- EPSS: 0.26% (percentile 17).
Our recommendation
- No patch action required; the fix is applied by Google.
- Review IAM bindings for snapshot creation and cross-project snapshot sharing, and apply least privilege.
- If logging is in place, check Cloud Audit Logs for unexpected snapshot creation in recent months.
- Monitor for a public PoC or KEV listing and re-check NVD once analysis is complete.
Public exploits
PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit and Exploit-DB list nothing for this CVE.
Research sources
- Google Cloud Security Bulletin GCP-2026-073 docs.cloud.google.com
- OffSeq Radar: CVE-2026-85299 radar.offseq.com
- OffSeq Radar: GCP-2026-073 radar.offseq.com
- VulDB entry 427085 vuldb.com
- Strix CVE-2026-85299 www.strix.ai
- CVE record mirror (threatint) cve.threatint.com
- Google Compute Engine release notes docs.cloud.google.com
- Managing disk snapshots (Google Cloud) docs.cloud.google.com
Researched and written up in English and German by an AI (Claude by Anthropic) based on NVD, CISA, EPSS and the sources listed. The vendor information is authoritative. Researched on 1 Nov 2026, 13:11.
Original description (NVD)
A Missing Authorization vulnerability in the disks.createSnapshot and regionDisks.createSnapshot APIs in Google Compute Engine versions prior to 2026-08-31 on Google Cloud Platform allows an authenticated attacker to exfiltrate cross-project disk data. This vulnerability was patched on 31 August 2026, and no customer action is needed.
Sources
The tracker combines official, freely usable data sources – updated continuously:
- NVD (NIST) – CVEs, rating (CVSS), affected products
- CISA KEV – vulnerabilities confirmed by CISA as actively exploited
- CISA Vulnrichment – CISA assessment (SSVC) in the official CVE record
- FIRST EPSS – probability of exploitation
- Microsoft MSRC – Patch Tuesday: vulnerabilities, severity, updates
- PoC-in-GitHub – public proof-of-concept repositories
- Metasploit (Rapid7) – modules of the Metasploit Framework
- Exploit-DB (OffSec) – archive of public exploits (links only)
- Patch days: official vendor pages (linked per vendor) (Vendor patch days)
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS data © FIRST.org.
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