Authentication bypass in TrueNAS SCALE HA heartbeat origin check
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Adjacent network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-290.
Summary
iXsystems TrueNAS SCALE before 25.10.8 is affected, as are earlier release trains before their respective fixes. The middlewared HA peer-authentication hook accepts unauthenticated connections whose peer address is an HA heartbeat address, a bypass of authentication (CWE-290). An unauthenticated attacker on the same layer-2 network segment gains full administrator API access and can run commands as root. The hook is also present on non-HA single-node Community Edition installations.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
Description from the CNA
Authentication bypass in the HA heartbeat origin check in middlewared in TrueNAS SCALE before 25.10.8 (and in release trains before their respective fixes) allows an attacker on the same network segment to achieve unauthenticated full-administrator API access and execute commands as root. middlewared registers the HA peer-authentication hook (ha_permission) unconditionally, with no failover-licence or heartbeat-interface check. An unauthenticated connection whose TCP peer address is a hardcoded HA heartbeat address (169.254.10.1 or 169.254.10.2) and whose peer port is <= 1024 is granted a node credential that is authorized for every API method and treated as full administrator. Both conditions are properties of the attacker's own socket, and thus an attacker on the same layer-2 segment satisfies them without forging anything. The hook is present on non-HA, unlicensed, single-node Community Edition installations. The fix additionally requires that the connection terminate on the HA heartbeat listener (a local address/port the attacker cannot control).
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
Upgrade TrueNAS SCALE to 25.10.8, which fixes the flaw. The sources list no fixed version for the earlier release trains.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
- Fix · CNA TrueNAS SCALE (iXsystems) Fixed in 25.10.8
Vendor assessments
Timeline
- 2026-11-05 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-123033
- 2026-11-05 Alias added: GHSA-m6c5-5946-f5rx
- 2026-11-06 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 CVSS score added · Red Hat
More iXsystems vulnerabilities
- TI-2010-05060 FreeNAS < 0.7.2 rev 5543 exec_raw.php Arbitrary Command Execution CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.3
- TI-2024-11081 Path traversal in iXsystems TrueNAS CORE CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2020-09348 An issue was discovered in iXsystems FreeNAS (and TrueNAS) 11.2 before 11.2-u8 and 11.3… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2024-11083 Cleartext transmission of sensitive information in iXsystems TrueNAS CORE CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.5
Sources
- CVE-2026-123033 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-123033 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-m6c5-5946-f5rx · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-123033 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences