CVE-2026-93582
Received Received - Intake

Authentication Bypass in OTRS Community Edition

Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-93582, including description, CVSS score, EPSS score, affected products, exploitability, helpful resources, and attack-flow context.

Publication date: 2026-10-12

Last updated on: 2026-10-12

Assigner: OTRS AG

Description

The HTTP Basic Authentication modules in ((OTRS)) Community Edition 6 and prior accept the authenticated username from either the REMOTE_USER or HTTP_REMOTE_USER environment variable. In CGI and mod_perl based deployments, HTTP request headers may be mapped to corresponding HTTP_* environment variables. As a result, an unauthenticated remote attacker can supply a crafted Remote-User request header which is exposed to the application as HTTP_REMOTE_USER. When HTTP Basic Authentication is configured as the authentication backend, OTRS trusts this value as an already authenticated username and does not perform an additional password verification. An attacker may therefore authenticate through the Generic Interface as an existing agent or customer user without knowing the corresponding credentials. The resulting privileges depend on the account being impersonated. Successful exploitation may allow access to confidential information and modification of data or configuration with the permissions of the affected user. Exploitation requires HTTP Basic Authentication to be configured as an authentication backend and a web server environment in which attacker-controlled HTTP headers are exposed through the corresponding HTTP_* environment variables. OTRS 7 and later are not affected by this attack vector due to the use of Mojolicious/Hypnotoad and does not expose arbitrary request headers through %ENV in the manner required for exploitation. The supported REMOTE_USER mechanism additionally requires validation through the configured SSO shared secret. The unused HTTP_REMOTE_USER fallback has nevertheless been removed as a security-hardening measure. Please note that ((OTRS)) Community Edition 6.x and before are vulnerable. Products based on the ((OTRS)) Community Edition also very likely to be affected

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

Probability:
Percentile:

Meta Information

Published
2026-10-12
Last Modified
2026-10-12
Generated
2026-10-12
AI Q&A
2026-10-12
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
EUVD

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
OTRS GmbH (former OTRS AG) ((OTRS)) Community Edition 6.x

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
CWE Icon
KEV
KEV Icon
CWE ID Description
CWE-290 This attack-focused weakness is caused by incorrectly implemented authentication schemes that are subject to spoofing attacks.

Attack-Flow Graph

AI Quick Actions

Instant insights powered by AI
Executive Summary

This vulnerability affects OTRS Community Edition 6 and earlier. It allows an unauthenticated attacker to bypass authentication by crafting a malicious Remote-User HTTP header. When HTTP Basic Authentication is enabled, OTRS trusts this header as a valid username without verifying the password. The attacker can then impersonate an existing user, gaining access to their permissions and potentially confidential data or system configurations.

Detection Guidance

Check if your OTRS deployment uses CGI or mod_perl environments and HTTP Basic Authentication. Inspect web server configurations for header-to-environment variable mappings like HTTP_REMOTE_USER. Monitor logs for unusual authentication attempts or header injections.

Impact Analysis

If exploited, this vulnerability could allow an attacker to access confidential information, modify data or configurations, and perform actions with the permissions of the impersonated user. The impact depends on the privileges of the compromised account, ranging from data theft to unauthorized system changes.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data, violating compliance requirements such as GDPR or HIPAA. Unauthorized data exposure or modification may result in legal penalties, loss of trust, and regulatory fines due to compromised confidentiality and integrity of personal or health information.

Mitigation Strategies

Upgrade to OTRS version 2026.7.1 or later. Disable HTTP Basic Authentication if not required. Configure web servers to block untrusted headers. Review and restrict environment variable exposure in CGI/mod_perl setups.

Chat Assistant

Ask questions about this CVE
Hi! I’m here to help you understand CVE-2026-93582. Ask me anything about the vulnerability, its impact, or mitigation strategies.
0/70

EPSS Chart