CVE-2026-5426

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Hard-coded machineKey in KnowledgeDeliver Enables Remote Code Execution

Publication date: 2026-04-16

Last updated on: 2026-05-26

Assigner: Mandiant Inc.

Description

Hard-coded ASP.NET/IIS machineKey value in Digital Knowledge KnowledgeDeliver deployments prior to February 24, 2026 allows adversaries to circumvent ViewState validation mechanisms and achieve remote code execution via malicious ViewState deserialization attacks

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-04-16

Last Modified

2026-05-26

Generated

2026-07-06

AI Q&A

2026-04-16

EPSS Evaluated

2026-07-05

NVD

CVE-2026-5426

EUVD

EUVD-2026-23271

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
digital_knowledge	knowledgedeliver	to 2026-02-24 (exc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-321	The product uses a hard-coded, unchangeable cryptographic key.
CWE-502	The product deserializes untrusted data without sufficiently ensuring that the resulting data will be valid.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability involves a hard-coded ASP.NET/IIS machineKey value in Digital Knowledge KnowledgeDeliver deployments prior to February 24, 2026. Because the machineKey is hard-coded, attackers can bypass the ViewState validation mechanisms.

By circumventing ViewState validation, adversaries can perform malicious ViewState deserialization attacks, which can lead to remote code execution on the affected system.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can allow attackers to execute arbitrary code remotely on affected systems by exploiting the hard-coded machineKey to bypass ViewState validation.

Remote code execution can lead to full compromise of the affected server, potentially allowing attackers to steal data, disrupt services, or use the system as a foothold for further attacks.

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