Summary
OpenAM Authenticated Privilege Escalation via Raw Token Disclosure Session RPC
Description
An insufficient authorization (CWE-285) and information exposure (CWE-200) issue in OpenAM's session management endpoint allows a low-privileged authenticated user to retrieve active session credentials belonging to other users, including those with higher privileges. This affects OpenAM Community Edition through version 16.0.6 and was patched in version 16.1.1.
This may be related to CVE-2021-4201, a similar issue patched in ForgeRock Access Management, a separate product sharing a common codebase ancestry.
Impact
OpenAM Community Edition deployments through version 16.0.6 using stateful session storage and exposing the session management endpoint are potentially affected. The endpoint does not enforce ownership or privilege checks when querying session information, meaning an authenticated user may retrieve active session credentials for arbitrary users. Successful exploitation requires a valid low-privilege session and knowledge of a target user's identity identifier, which may be obtainable through normal platform functionality.
If credentials belonging to a highly privileged account are obtained, this could enable further administrative actions within the platform
CVE-2026-45048 has a CVSS score of 8.5 (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 (16.1.1); 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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This has been patched in OpenAM Community Edition version 16.1.1. Users are encouraged to update to the latest release.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-45048? CVE-2026-45048 is a high-severity security vulnerability in org.openidentityplatform.openam:openam-core (maven), affecting versions <= 16.0.6. It is fixed in 16.1.1.
- How severe is CVE-2026-45048? CVE-2026-45048 has a CVSS score of 8.5 (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 org.openidentityplatform.openam:openam-core are affected by CVE-2026-45048? org.openidentityplatform.openam:openam-core (maven) versions <= 16.0.6 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-45048? Yes. CVE-2026-45048 is fixed in 16.1.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-45048 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-45048 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-2026-45048 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-2026-45048? Upgrade
org.openidentityplatform.openam:openam-coreto 16.1.1 or later.