CVE-2026-102490
CVE-2026-102490 is a security flaw in Zammad GmbH Zammad. Someone who already has a foothold can use Zammad GmbH Zammad to take full control of the machine. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added it to its catalog of flaws known to be used in attacks on 2 Oct 2026.[1]
Zammad GmbH Zammad is business software or equipment. Most families won’t have it, but attackers break into it to get inside companies, and from there to what those companies hold about their customers, patients and staff. Fixed in version 7.2.2 of Zammad.
Description
CISA calls it an improper privilege management in Zammad GmbH Zammad. In its words: “Zammad GmbH Zammad contains an improper privilege management vulnerability that can allow the local zammad user to escalate privileges to root. This vulnerability can be chained with CVE-2026-102489.”[1]
The CVE record adds: “Zammad packages built with packager.io (DEB and RPM) could have allowed a local attacker who already had file system write privileges as the unprivileged zammad service account to escalate to full root privileges on the host. Service processes began running as root and executed files that were owned and writable by the zammad account before dropping their identity to that account. An attacker holding that foothold could have escalated within seconds, because the affected services were restarted automatically whenever they stopped; no administrator interaction was required. Only installations from the DEB and RPM packages were affected — installations from source or the official container images were not. All released packaged versions were affected.”[2]
The underlying weakness is improper privilege management (CWE-269), in MITRE’s list of common software weaknesses.
It scores 7.8 out of 10 on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System, which rates it high, scored by NVD using CVSS 3.1.[2]
Affected versions
NVD’s record lists one fixed version: everything before it is affected.[2]
| Product | Fixed in |
|---|---|
| Zammad | 7.2.2 |
Most families won’t have Zammad GmbH Zammad; it’s for whoever looks after IT at work.
Exploitation
CISA added it to its catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities on 2 Oct 2026, 2 days after it was made public. CISA lists a flaw only when it has reliable evidence of it being exploited, and gave US federal agencies until 5 Oct 2026 to fix it.[1]
FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System, which estimates how likely a flaw is to be used in attacks in the next 30 days from what it sees across the internet, puts it at 11%. That’s in the top 5% of the flaws it scores.[4]
CISA assesses it as not automatable: each attack takes some work.
CISA doesn’t say who was attacked, or how.
Fix
Zammad GmbH has published a fix or advice.[3] CISA’s required action: “Apply mitigations in accordance with vendor instructions, ensuring compliance with CISA’s BOD 26-04 Prioritizing Security Updates Based on Risk (see URL in Notes) guidance and CISA’s “Forensics Triage Requirements” (see URL in Notes).”[1]
- Check whether you use it.Zammad GmbH Zammad is business software or equipment, so most families won’t have it. If you run a business, or work from home on company equipment, ask whoever looks after your IT.
- Send this page to your IT person.Ask them to confirm it’s fixed (fixed in version 7.2.2 of Zammad), or not in use. CISA gave US government agencies until 5 Oct 2026 to fix it.
- If it can’t be fixed, take it offline.CISA’s advice when there’s no fix is to stop using the product, or take it off the internet, until there is one.
You can’t fix someone else’s server, but you can watch for what follows a break-in like this: a breach notice, a password reset you didn’t ask for, or a scam message that knows things it shouldn’t. HARD watches for those for you and your family.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| The flaw is made public in the National Vulnerability Database, with a severity score of 7.8.[2] | |
| CISA adds it to its catalog of flaws known to be used in attacks.[1] | |
| CISA’s deadline for US government agencies to fix it.[1] | |
| FIRST puts the odds of it being used in attacks in the next 30 days at 11%.[4] |
See also
Other Zammad GmbH Zammad flaws
- CVE-2026-102489: session fixation ·
Other improper privilege management flaws
- CVE-2026-84869, ConnectWise ScreenConnect: improper privilege management and missing authorization ·
- CVE-2026-46817, Oracle E-Business Suite: improper privilege management ·
- CVE-2026-21533, Microsoft Windows: improper privilege management ·
- CVE-2024-8068, Citrix Session Recording: improper privilege management ·
- CVE-2024-49035, Microsoft Partner Center: improper access control ·
Added the same day
- CVE-2026-102489, Zammad GmbH Zammad: session fixation ·
References
- ^ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. “Zammad GmbH Zammad Improper Privilege Management Vulnerability”. Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, added 2 Oct 2026.
- ^ National Institute of Standards and Technology. “CVE-2026-102490 Detail”. National Vulnerability Database, published 30 Sep 2026.
- ^ Zammad GmbH. Advisories and fixes: zammad.com, community.zammad.org, github.com, zammad.com.
- ^ FIRST. “Exploit Prediction Scoring System”. EPSS 0.109, percentile 95.9, 31 Oct 2026.
- CVE Program. “CVE-2026-102490”. The official CVE record.
This article is built from CISA’s catalog (version 2026.10.30), NVD’s record and FIRST’s scores, kept in HARD’s database and checked every morning. The plain English is HARD’s.