Security Digest · Vulnerability record
CVE-2026-76298: Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key in the PostgreSQL Sidecar Service in Splunk Enterprise
In Splunk Enterprise versions below 10.4.4 and 10.2.8, a user who does not hold the "admin" or "power" Splunk roles could derive the PostgreSQL sidecar database superuser password and run arbitrary operating system commands as the user account running Splunk Enterprise on search head cluster members.
CVSS 8.8 High EPSS 0.3% · p16 Check exposure
Should you act?
Normal patch cycle
No exploitation signal; fix it in your next routine update if you are affected. This signal is computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS data; it is not an editorial verdict.
- 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 0.3%, percentile 16: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.3% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 16% 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.
- Editorial verdict: Check exposure. Splunk CVE-2026-76268: Unauthenticated Patroni API RCE — A pre-auth command execution bug, but only on 10.2 and 10.4 search head cluster members whose PostgreSQL sidecar is reachable; if that describes you, upgrade this week and skip straight to the October 21 releases.
What it is
In Splunk Enterprise versions below 10.4.4 and 10.2.8, a user who does not hold the "admin" or "power" Splunk roles could derive the PostgreSQL sidecar database superuser password and run arbitrary operating system commands as the user account running Splunk Enterprise on search head cluster members. The vulnerability is possible because the PostgreSQL sidecar service derives a privileged database password from the search head cluster identifier that appears in search job logs. For more information see About configuring role-based user access (https://help.splunk.com/en/splunk-enterprise/administer/manage-users-and-security/10.2/manage-splunk-platform-users-and-roles/about-configuring-role-based-user-access), server.conf (https://help.splunk.com/en/splunk-enterprise/administer/admin-manual/10.2/configuration-file-reference/10.2.0-configuration-file-reference/server.conf), and Sidecar configuration settings (https://help.splunk.com/en/splunk-enterprise/administer/admin-manual/10.4/splunk-sidecars/sidecar-configuration-settings) in the Splunk documentation.
Weakness type: CWE-321.
Product: Splunk Splunk Enterprise · Assigned by: cisco · Published: 2026-10-21
Affected and fixed versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions (per CVE record) |
|---|---|---|
| Splunk | Splunk Enterprise | 10.4 < 10.4.4, 10.2 < 10.2.8 |
Severity scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| cisco | 3.1 | 8.8 High | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- Attack vector: network (remotely reachable)
- Attack complexity: low
- Privileges required: low (any account)
- User interaction: none
- Scope: unchanged
CVSS measures how bad a flaw is if exploited, not how likely exploitation is. Read it next to the exploitation data below.
Exploitation and urgency
- CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
- CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none, automatable no, technical impact total.
- FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-24): 0.26% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 16.
Timeline
- — erroneo.us brief: Splunk CVE-2026-76268: Unauthenticated Patroni API RCE
- — CVE record published by cisco
- — CVE record last updated
Sources and references
Original sources first. Version and fix details should always be confirmed against the vendor or project advisory.
Vulnerability records
- CVE.org record CVE-2026-76298 cve.org
- NVD entry CVE-2026-76298 nvd.nist.gov
Other references from the CVE record and advisory
- advisory.splunk.com advisory.splunk.com