Summary
Backstage: Improper preservation of access restrictions during service credential delegation
Workarounds
If you're unable to upgrade immediately:
- If practical, replace restricted credentials with separate, purpose-specific unrestricted credentials scoped to trusted consumers.
- Restrict network-level access to Backstage backend API endpoints to trusted callers only.
Impact
An external service credential configured with access restrictions (e.g., read-only) could bypass those restrictions by routing requests through plugin delegation paths. This could allow a restricted service to perform operations beyond its intended scope, including write operations on plugins it was restricted to read-only access for.
The application assigns, modifies, tracks, or checks privileges incorrectly, allowing a user to gain elevated access. Typical impact: privilege escalation beyond the intended level.
CVE-2026-106492 has a CVSS score of 7.6 (High). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (0.17.8); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Patched in @backstage/backend-defaults version 0.17.8
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-106492? CVE-2026-106492 is a high-severity improper privilege management vulnerability in @backstage/backend-defaults (npm), affecting versions < 0.17.8. It is fixed in 0.17.8. The application assigns, modifies, tracks, or checks privileges incorrectly, allowing a user to gain elevated access.
- How severe is CVE-2026-106492? CVE-2026-106492 has a CVSS score of 7.6 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of @backstage/backend-defaults are affected by CVE-2026-106492? @backstage/backend-defaults (npm) versions < 0.17.8 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-106492? Yes. CVE-2026-106492 is fixed in 0.17.8. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-106492 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-106492 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2026-106492 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2026-106492? Upgrade
@backstage/backend-defaultsto 0.17.8 or later.