Ghidra before 12.1 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in PKIAuthenticationModule.authenticate() that allows any user with a valid CA-signed certificate to impersonate other users by presenting their public certificate with a null signature. Attackers can escalate privileges, modify repository access controls, exfiltrate shared reverse engineering databases, and permanently compromise server integrity.

Attack Vector Network

Attack Complexity Low

Privileges Required Low

Attack Requirements None

User Interaction None

Vulnerable System Confidentiality Impact High

Vulnerable System Integrity Impact High

Vulnerable System Availability Impact High

Subsequent System Confidentiality Impact None

Subsequent System Integrity Impact None

Subsequent System Availability Impact None

Attack Vector Network

Attack Complexity Low

Privileges Required Low

Scope Unchanged

Confidentiality Impact High

Integrity Impact High

Availability Impact High

User Interaction None

No CVSS v3.0

No CVSS v2

This CVE is not in the KEV list.

No EPSS score available.

Exploitation none

Automatable no

Technical Impact total

Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).

Vendor Product Default status Versions
nationalsecurityagency ghidra unaffected
Version Status Constraints
0 affected < 12.1
12.1 unaffected —

No data.

No data.

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Project Subscriptions

Vendors Products
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Ghidra Subscribe
Advisories

No advisories yet.

Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.

Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

References
Link Providers
https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/commit/78729379e471bbb3d969409be6a8c3d24af84220 cve-icon cve-icon
https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/commit/79d8f164f8bb8b15cfb60c5d4faeb8e1c25d15ca cve-icon cve-icon
https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/security/advisories/GHSA-5wxq-7qpv-65p2 cve-icon cve-icon
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/ghidra-authentication-bypass-via-null-signature-in-pkiauthenticationmodule cve-icon cve-icon
History

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 14:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Ghidra before 12.1 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in PKIAuthenticationModule.authenticate() that allows any user with a valid CA-signed certificate to impersonate other users by presenting their public certificate with a null signature. Attackers can escalate privileges, modify repository access controls, exfiltrate shared reverse engineering databases, and permanently compromise server integrity.
Title Ghidra < 12.1 - Authentication Bypass via Null Signature in PKIAuthenticationModule
First Time appeared Nsa
Nsa ghidra
Weaknesses CWE-347
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:nsa:ghidra:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Nsa
Nsa ghidra
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 8.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

cvssV4_0

{'score': 8.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}

Projects

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: VulnCheck

Published:

Updated: 2026-06-10T13:53:32.074Z

Reserved: 2026-06-08T15:20:09.274Z

Link: CVE-2026-52754

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-06-10T13:53:21.784Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2026-06-10T14:16:35.603

Modified: 2026-06-10T19:43:28.857

Link: CVE-2026-52754

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-06-10T15:00:13Z

Weaknesses