Compliance Impact

The vulnerability allows an authenticated administrator to initiate unintended server-side connections to a malicious LDAP server when configuring or testing LDAP connectivity. This could potentially lead to unauthorized outbound connections from the server.

While the CVE description and resources do not explicitly mention compliance impacts with standards such as GDPR or HIPAA, the risk of unauthorized connections could imply potential exposure of sensitive information or unauthorized data transmission, which may affect compliance with data protection regulations.

Mitigations include restricting LDAP configuration access to trusted administrators and limiting network access to the management interface, which are important controls to maintain compliance with security best practices required by such standards.

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Executive Summary

CVE-2026-3048 is a vulnerability in Sonatype Nexus Repository Manager versions 3.0.0 through 3.91.1 where an authenticated administrator configuring or testing LDAP connectivity may be tricked into initiating unintended server-side connections to a malicious LDAP server.

This happens due to improper handling of LDAP referrals, allowing the server to connect to attacker-controlled LDAP servers when an administrator interacts with LDAP settings.

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Impact Analysis

The vulnerability can lead to unintended outbound connections from the Nexus Repository Manager server to malicious LDAP servers controlled by an attacker.

This could potentially expose internal network information or allow attackers to influence server behavior through these connections.

However, exploitation requires administrative access to LDAP settings and interaction with a malicious LDAP server.

Mitigations include upgrading to version 3.92.0, applying configuration workarounds, restricting LDAP configuration access to trusted administrators, and limiting network access to the management interface.

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Detection Guidance

Detection of this vulnerability involves monitoring for unintended outbound LDAP connections initiated by the Sonatype Nexus Repository Manager when an administrator configures or tests LDAP connectivity.

Since the vulnerability allows the server to make unintended server-side connections to a malicious LDAP server, network monitoring tools can be used to detect unusual LDAP traffic originating from the Nexus server.

Specific commands are not provided in the available resources.

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Mitigation Strategies

Immediate mitigation steps include upgrading Sonatype Nexus Repository Manager to version 3.92.0 or later, where the vulnerability is fixed.

If upgrading immediately is not possible, add the property `nexus.ldap.env.java.naming.referral=ignore` to the `nexus.properties` file and restart the server to work around the issue.

• Restrict LDAP configuration access to trusted administrators only.
• Limit network access to the management interface to reduce exposure.

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