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NVD / CVE Program· CNA Sonatype

CVE-2026-5189: Nexus Repository 3 - Hardcoded Credential in Internal Database Component

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 36/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.52% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
  • Fixed version: Sonatype Nexus Repository 3.71.0.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to Sonatype Nexus Repository 3.71.0 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

CWE-798: Use of Hard-coded Credentials in Sonatype Nexus Repository Manager versions 3.0.0 through 3.70.5 allows an unauthenticated attacker with network access to gain unauthorized read/write access to the internal database and execute arbitrary OS commands as the Nexus process user. Exploitation requires the non-default nexus.orient.binaryListenerEnabled=true configuration to be enabled.

CriticalCVSS 9.2 · v4.0—No exploit Fix available
Published
Apr 15, 2026
Updated
Oct 26, 2026
EPSS
0.5% · 44th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

36

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
36 / 40 · 9.2 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.5%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · Sonatype
9.2
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2026-5189

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
sonatypenexus repository manager

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • sonatype nexus repository manager3.0.0 and later · before 3.71.0

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (Sonatype). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Sonatype Nexus Repository

    • 3.0.0 and later · before 3.71.0affected · semver

Same product

sonatype: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2019-7238Sonatype Nexus Repository Manager before 3.15.0 has Incorrect Access Control.KEV
    92Now
  • CVE-2019-5475The Nexus Yum Repository Plugin in v2 is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution when instances using CommandLineExecutor.java are supplied vuln
    41Plan
  • CVE-2019-9629Sonatype Nexus Repository Manager before 3.17.0 establishes a default administrator user with weak defaults (fixed credentials).
    39Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-3199Apr 8, 2026 · Nexus Repository 3 - Authenticated Remote Code Execution via Task Property Injection
    37Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-3438Apr 8, 2026 · Nexus Repository 3 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) in ?describe Pages
    20Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-3048May 11, 2026 · Nexus Repository 3 - Improper LDAP Referral Handling
    20Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
Sonatype Nexus Repository3.71.0Vendor (CNA)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

  • CVE-2024-5764539 days apartNexus Repository 3 - Static hard-coded encryption passphrase used by default
    23Monitor

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

The product’s vendor appears in a public program. Matched by name; verify the scope text in the program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
X

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-798 · Use of Hard-coded Credentials

CVSS vector

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

nvd-secondary

Root cause

For convenience in support or manufacturing, an account that is identical on every device is embedded in the software. Credentials learned from one device work on all of them.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-798 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

ts
const SUPPORT_USER = "support";const SUPPORT_PASS = "hardcoded-password";

Fixed

ts
const creds = await provisioning.deviceCredentials(deviceId);if (creds.mustRotate) await forcePasswordChange(deviceId);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (1 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records