Sonatype Nexus Repository 3: Privilege escalation via role management
Summary
Sonatype Nexus Repository 3 allows a user with role create or role update permission to grant roles and privileges that the account does not hold. An authenticated attacker can thereby obtain more access than intended, up to full administrative access. The attack requires an existing account with these permissions.
Affected
- Sonatype Nexus Repository 3 from 3.0.0 to before 3.97.0 (according to the CNA data)
- Note: VulDB describes the affected range as up to 3.96.x; the vendor range should be verified.
Fixed in
- Upgrade to Sonatype Nexus Repository 3.97.0 or later (according to the research notes; not fully confirmed in the release notes).
- Review the PostgreSQL note in the 3.97.0 release notes before upgrading PostgreSQL-backed instances.
Workaround
- Unknown. No vendor workaround was found.
- Interim measure: review all accounts and roles with role create or role update permissions and remove those that are not strictly needed.
Exploitation
- No evidence of exploitation in the wild found. Not listed in CISA KEV (according to Strix).
- No public proof of concept found.
- EPSS: 0.00265 (according to Vulners).
- CISA SSVC: Exploitation none, Automatable no, Technical Impact total.
Our recommendation
- Check the installed Nexus Repository version; anything below 3.97.0 is in scope.
- Plan the upgrade to 3.97.0 or later and read the PostgreSQL note first.
- Audit accounts and roles with create or update permissions and limit them.
- Review audit logs for role or privilege changes made by non-administrators.
- Verify the advisory and NVD entry once NVD analysis is complete.
Public exploits
PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit and Exploit-DB list nothing for this CVE.
Research sources
- Sonatype Nexus Repository 3.97.0 Release Notes help.sonatype.com
- Sonatype Security Advisory support.sonatype.com
- Sonatype Security Advisories index support.sonatype.com
- OpenCVE: CVE-2026-97712 app.opencve.io
- Strix: CVE-2026-97712 www.strix.ai
- Vulners: CVE-2026-97712 vulners.com
- VulDB: CVE-2026-97712 vuldb.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, 02:28.
Original description (NVD)
Sonatype Nexus Repository 3 allows a user that holds the role create or role update permission to grant roles and privileges that the account does not hold. This can give the user more access than intended, up to full administrative access.
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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