curl Credential Inference via .netrc/Username Mismatch
CVE-2026-8926 Published on July 3, 2026

password leak with netrc and user in URL
When asking curl to use a `.netrc` file to find credentials and at the same time specifying a URL with a username (without a password), like `https://user@example.com/`, curl could wrongly get and use the password for *another* user set in the `.netrc` file for that host if such a one exists and there is no match for the specified user.

NVD

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2026-8926 is exploitable with network access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. Public availability of a proof of concept (POC) exploit exists for CVE-2026-8926. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have a high impact on confidentiality and integrity, and no impact on availability.

Attack Vector:
NETWORK
Attack Complexity:
LOW
Privileges Required:
NONE
User Interaction:
NONE
Scope:
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact:
HIGH
Integrity Impact:
HIGH
Availability Impact:
NONE

Weakness Type

Insufficiently Protected Credentials

The product transmits or stores authentication credentials, but it uses an insecure method that is susceptible to unauthorized interception and/or retrieval.


Products Associated with CVE-2026-8926

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Canonical Ubuntu Linux
 
Haxx Curl
 

Affected Versions

curl: curl: curl: