CVE-2026-50000

SecureDrop: API session token reuse against the Journalist Interface web UI

MEDIUM
5
CVSS Score
Published: October 30, 2026 at 05:11 PM UTC
Updated: October 30, 2026 at 07:37 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorSecureDrop

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Severity
MEDIUM5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.4%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

SecureDrop is an open-source whistleblower submission system that media organizations can use to securely accept documents from, and communicate with anonymous sources. From 2.5.0 until 2.16.0, the `Journalist Interface` can accept an `API session` token against the `web UI` because its `SessionInterface` keeps a mutable session key prefix that changes with each request and persists across requests. API and web sessions were separated in `Redis` starting in version 2.5.0, but prefix corruption confuses those session namespaces. An attacker who already has access to the secret `Journalist Interface` onion address, the required authentication access and a recent nonexpired `API session` token can reuse that token against the `web UI` until its natural expiry, at most eight hours. The corrupted prefix can also prevent logout from deleting the correct `Redis` session, although normal expiry still applies. A compromised journalist can access encrypted submissions and perform broad actions on source submissions, but this issue does not expose plaintext submissions or affect the running system's availability. This issue is fixed in version 2.16.0.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

2.5.0 ≤ v < 2.16.02.5.0

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

5MEDIUMGitHub_M
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
HIGH
Privileges
HIGH
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
LOW
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusAWAITING ANALYSIS
CWE
CWE-863

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