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8.4
Vitess: Unauthorized access to production by backup storage users
CVE-2026-27965
GHSA-8g8j-r87h-p36x
Summary
If a user with access to Vitess backup storage can manipulate backup files, they may gain access to sensitive information and execute unauthorized commands in the production environment. To mitigate this risk, apply the upcoming patches or use the --external-decompressor flag to specify a harmless command. This issue affects backup storage users with read/write access.
What to do
No fix is available yet. Check with your software vendor for updates.
Affected software
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fix available |
|---|---|---|---|
| vitess.io | vitess | <= 0.23.2 | – |
| linuxfoundation | vitess | <= 22.0.4 | – |
| linuxfoundation | vitess | > 23.0.0 , <= 23.0.3 | – |
Original title
Vitess users with backup storage access can gain unauthorized access to production deployment environments
Original description
### Impact
Any user with read/write access to the backup storage location (e.g. an S3 bucket) can manipulate backup manifest files so that arbitrary code is later executed when that backup is restored. This can be used to provide that attacker with unintended/unauthorized access to the production deployment environment — allowing them to access information available in that environment as well as run any additional arbitrary commands there.
### Patches
Fixes are expected to be released with versions v23.0.3 and v22.0.4
See fix commit at https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/commit/4c0173293907af9cb942a6683c465c3f1e9fdb5c
### Workarounds
If maintainers *intended* to use an external decompressor then they can always specify that decompressor command in the `--external-decompressor` flag value for `vttablet` and `vtbackup`. That then overrides any value specified in the manifest file.
If maintainers did *not intend* to use an external decompressor, nor an internal one, then they can specify a value such as `cat` or `tee` in the `--external-decompressor` flag value for `vttablet` and `vtbackup` to ensure that a harmless command is always used.
### References
Users can read more about the issue here: https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/issues/19459
Any user with read/write access to the backup storage location (e.g. an S3 bucket) can manipulate backup manifest files so that arbitrary code is later executed when that backup is restored. This can be used to provide that attacker with unintended/unauthorized access to the production deployment environment — allowing them to access information available in that environment as well as run any additional arbitrary commands there.
### Patches
Fixes are expected to be released with versions v23.0.3 and v22.0.4
See fix commit at https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/commit/4c0173293907af9cb942a6683c465c3f1e9fdb5c
### Workarounds
If maintainers *intended* to use an external decompressor then they can always specify that decompressor command in the `--external-decompressor` flag value for `vttablet` and `vtbackup`. That then overrides any value specified in the manifest file.
If maintainers did *not intend* to use an external decompressor, nor an internal one, then they can specify a value such as `cat` or `tee` in the `--external-decompressor` flag value for `vttablet` and `vtbackup` to ensure that a harmless command is always used.
### References
Users can read more about the issue here: https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/issues/19459
nvd CVSS3.1
9.9
nvd CVSS4.0
8.4
Vulnerability type
CWE-78
OS Command Injection
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-27965
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-8g8j-r87h-p36x
- https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/commit/4c0173293907af9cb942a6683c465c3f1e9fdb... Patch
- https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/issues/19459 Issue Tracking
- https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/pull/19460 Issue Tracking Patch
- https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/security/advisories/GHSA-8g8j-r87h-p36x Mitigation Patch Vendor Advisory
Published: 26 Feb 2026 · Updated: 12 Mar 2026 · First seen: 6 Mar 2026