UPDATE — the exploited Metabase zero-day now has an identifier: CVE-2026-72898 at CVSS 10.0, on CISA KEV since 11 August, with the affected ranges published per release line
UPDATE · originally covered Metabase: an unauthenticated SQL-injection zero-day gave attackers administrator access to BI instances — exploited since 3 August, and no CVE was ever assigned (2026-08-09)
the entry on Metabase's unauthenticated SQL-injection zero-day closed on the observation that no CVE identifier had been assigned, so a purely CVE-driven patch process would not surface the exposure at all. That gap is now closed in both directions. GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-vwf4-m7j8-wcjf assigns CVE-2026-72898 with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 10.0 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H), and Metabase's own advisory text states that "Metabase has confirmed active exploitation of this vulnerability" and that the flaw "allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to inject arbitrary SQL into the Metabase application database, which can give them administrator access to the instance" (Metabase, 2026-08-06). CISA added the CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-08-11 with a 14 August due date (CISA, 2026-08-11).
The second half of the delta is the affected-version matrix, which the vendor's original blog post did not carry in this form. The advisory lists the affected ranges per release line as >= x.58.0 < x.58.23, >= x.59.0 < x.59.20, >= x.60.0 < x.60.16, >= x.61.0 < x.61.10, >= x.62.0 < x.62.8 and >= x.63.0 < x.63.3, and names the patched versions separately as x.58.24, x.59.21, x.60.17, x.61.11, x.62.9 and x.63.5 — note the two lists do not meet, so a build sitting between an affected upper bound and its patched release is not described either way and should be treated as needing the named patched version (Metabase, 2026-08-06). That turns "upgrade Metabase" into a query an asset inventory can answer, and it is what a scanner needed in order to report anything at all.
Nothing here changes the exposure of an instance that has not been upgraded — the exploitation window has been open since at least 3 August per the earlier coverage, and the interim control is unchanged: block the /api/session/reset_password endpoint if an upgrade cannot happen immediately. What changed is visibility, and that is the operationally useful part. An organisation whose vulnerability management runs off CVE identifiers, SBOM matching or KEV feeds got no signal on this flaw for over a week while it was being exploited; the same tooling will now produce a finding on the next scan cycle. The advisory's post-upgrade guidance also stands and is worth re-reading against what an attacker with administrator access would already have taken: revoke active sessions, audit API keys and administrator accounts, and rotate the stored credentials for every connected data source, because those credentials are what an instance-level compromise reaches.
Metabase has confirmed active exploitation of this vulnerability.
This is a CRITICAL vulnerability that allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to inject arbitrary SQL into the Metabase application database, which can give them administrator access to the instance.
Defender actions
- Re-run the vulnerability scanner and SBOM query against CVE-2026-72898 now that an identifier exists — any self-hosted Metabase not yet on x.58.24 / x.59.21 / x.60.17 / x.61.11 / x.62.9 / x.63.5 that was invisible to CVE-keyed tooling last week will surface this time.
ATT&CK mapping
2 techniques mapped from the cited reporting · MITRE ATT&CK v19.2
Initial Access TA0001
T1078Valid Accounts
Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of existing accounts as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion. Compromised credentials may be used to bypass access controls placed on various resources on systems within the network and may even be used for persistent access to remote systems and externally available services, such as VPNs, Outlook Web Access, network devices, and remote desktop. Compromised credentials may also grant an adversary increased privilege to specific systems or access to restricted areas of the network. Adversaries may choose not to use malware or tools in conjunction with the legitimate access those credentials provide to make it harder to detect their presence.
T1190Exploit Public-Facing Application
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network. The weakness in the system can be a software bug, a temporary glitch, or a misconfiguration.
Persistence TA0003
T1078Valid Accounts
Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of existing accounts as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion. Compromised credentials may be used to bypass access controls placed on various resources on systems within the network and may even be used for persistent access to remote systems and externally available services, such as VPNs, Outlook Web Access, network devices, and remote desktop. Compromised credentials may also grant an adversary increased privilege to specific systems or access to restricted areas of the network. Adversaries may choose not to use malware or tools in conjunction with the legitimate access those credentials provide to make it harder to detect their presence.
Privilege Escalation TA0004
T1078Valid Accounts
Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of existing accounts as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion. Compromised credentials may be used to bypass access controls placed on various resources on systems within the network and may even be used for persistent access to remote systems and externally available services, such as VPNs, Outlook Web Access, network devices, and remote desktop. Compromised credentials may also grant an adversary increased privilege to specific systems or access to restricted areas of the network. Adversaries may choose not to use malware or tools in conjunction with the legitimate access those credentials provide to make it harder to detect their presence.
Stealth TA0005
T1078Valid Accounts
Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of existing accounts as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion. Compromised credentials may be used to bypass access controls placed on various resources on systems within the network and may even be used for persistent access to remote systems and externally available services, such as VPNs, Outlook Web Access, network devices, and remote desktop. Compromised credentials may also grant an adversary increased privilege to specific systems or access to restricted areas of the network. Adversaries may choose not to use malware or tools in conjunction with the legitimate access those credentials provide to make it harder to detect their presence.
Update chain
AI-generated · no human review · this permalink is the shareable record for the finding · verify operationally critical claims against the linked primary source.