CVE-2026-44725

EMQX: Stale plugins allow grants amplify a compromised admin/API key to remote code execution

State: Published
Severity: 6.6 Medium
Published: Aug 20, 2026
Updated: Aug 21, 2026
Reserved: May 7, 2026

Description

EMQX is a scalable and reliable MQTT broker for AI, IoT, IIoT, and connected vehicles. Prior to versions 5.8.11, 5.9.3, 5.10.4, 6.0.3, 6.1.2, and 6.2.1, the plugin-install REST API and dashboard upload accepted stale grants created with emqx ctl plugins allow because there was no five-minute grant lifetime or SHA-256 package binding. An attacker with a compromised dashboard administrator credential or API key with plugin-install permission who finds a stale allowed name and version can upload attacker-controlled bytes under the allowed .tar.gz filename through POST /api/v5/plugins/install or the dashboard plugin upload. The broker then installs and runs attacker-controlled Erlang code with the privileges of the EMQX process. This issue is fixed in versions 5.8.11, 5.9.3, 5.10.4, 6.0.3, 6.1.2, and 6.2.1.

Scores

CVSS	Score	Vector	Source
3.1	6.6 Medium	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H	GitHub_M

Weaknesses

CWE-345 Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity
CWE-672 Operation on a Resource after Expiration or Release

Affected Products

Product	Versions
emqxemqx	< 5.8.11Affected >= 5.9.0, < 5.9.3Affected >= 5.10.0, < 5.10.4Affected >= 6.0.0, < 6.0.3Affected >= 6.1.0, < 6.1.2Affected >= 6.2.0, < 6.2.1Affected

References

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