---
title: "CVE-2026-42571: Pelican Web UI Affected by a Privilege Escalation Attack"
url: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2026-42571/
description: "CVE-2026-42571 (github.com/pelicanplatform/pelican (Go)): Pelican is a platform for creating data federations. From versions 7.21.0 to before 7.21.5, 7.22.0…"
type: vulnerability-record
section: "Security Digest"
date_published: 2026-05-09
date_modified: 2026-08-19
publisher: erroneo.us
author: erroneo.us Security Desk
cve: "CVE-2026-42571"
kev: false
cvss: 9
epss: 0.00396
license: All rights reserved. Quote with attribution and a link.
---

# CVE-2026-42571: Pelican Web UI Affected by a Privilege Escalation Attack

**Signal:** Critical, preconditions apply. Severe if exploited, but exploitation needs conditions that may not apply to you. (Computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS; not an editorial verdict.)

## Should you act?

- No confirmed exploitation. It is not in CISA’s KEV catalog and CISA’s SSVC assessment records no known exploitation. That can change quickly after a public write-up; re-check if you are affected.
- EPSS 0.4% , percentile 33: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.4% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 33% of all scored CVEs (low). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
- Needs an account (low (any account)). Exposure depends on who can log in.
- Only applies if your dependency tree includes github.com/pelicanplatform/pelican (Go) < 0.0.0-20260408120501-7f73b9c3e677, fixed in 0.0.0-20260408120501-7f73b9c3e677 . Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

## What it is

Pelican is a platform for creating data federations. From versions 7.21.0 to before 7.21.5, 7.22.0 to before 7.22.3, 7.23.0 to before 7.23.3, and 7.24.0 to before 7.24.2, there is a a privilege escalation vulnerability affecting Pelican's Web User Interface (WebUI). This attack allows any user authenticated to the WebUI via OAuth to gain admin privileges under certain configurations. This issue has been patched in versions 7.21.5, 7.22.3, 7.23.3, and 7.24.2.

## Affected packages

- Go `github.com/pelicanplatform/pelican` < 0.0.0-20260408120501-7f73b9c3e677 → fixed: 0.0.0-20260408120501-7f73b9c3e677

## Affected products (CVE record)

- PelicanPlatform pelican: >= 7.21.0, < 7.21.5, >= 7.22.0, < 7.22.3, >= 7.23.0, < 7.23.3, >= 7.24.0, < 7.24.2

## Severity

- GitHub_M CVSS 4.0: 9 `CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H`
- GitHub CVSS 4.0: 9.0 `CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H`

## Exploitation

- CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
- CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none , automatable yes , technical impact total .
- FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 0.40% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 33.

## Sources

- [GitHub Advisory GHSA-rpfr-x88x-xwcw](https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-rpfr-x88x-xwcw)
- [CVE.org record CVE-2026-42571](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-42571)
- [NVD entry CVE-2026-42571](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42571)
- [github.com](https://github.com/PelicanPlatform/pelican/security/advisories/GHSA-rpfr-x88x-xwcw)
- [github.com](https://github.com/PelicanPlatform/pelican/commit/7f73b9c3e677a0ae4a0ec465c5d98bb8bd948854)

---
Source page: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2026-42571/ · Security Digest: https://erroneo.us/security/ · More: https://erroneo.us/llms.txt