CVE-2026-40525: OpenViking Unauthenticated Remote Bot Control Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-jgq2-vq69-gr6h
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CVSS 9.1
CWE-636
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-40525 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.1) unauthenticated remote bot control vulnerability (CWE-636: Not Failing Securely ('Failing Open')) affecting OpenViking libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves unauthenticated remote bot control via openapi http routes. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.3.9.

CVE-2026-40525 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-40525
GHSA Identifier GHSA-jgq2-vq69-gr6h
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.1
CWE Classification CWE-636: Not Failing Securely ('Failing Open')
Affected Product OpenViking
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.1

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2026-40525

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected OpenViking dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

openviking fixed: 0.3.9 
pip install openviking>=0.3.9
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show openviking

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2026-40525, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show openviking

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of OpenViking in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.3.9), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show openviking command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-636: Not Failing Securely ('Failing Open'), where when the product encounters an error condition or failure, its design requires it to fall back to a state that is less secure than other options that are available, such as selecting the weakest encryption algorithm or using the most permissive access control restrictions. In OpenViking, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

OpenViking prior to commit c7bb167 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in the VikingBot OpenAPI HTTP route surface where the authentication check fails open when the api_key configuration value is unset or empty. Remote attackers with network access to the exposed service can invoke privileged bot-control functionality without providing a valid X-API-Key header, including submitting attacker-controlled prompts, creating or using bot sessions, and accessing downstream tools, integrations, secrets, or data accessible to the bot.

CVE-2026-40525 Affected OpenViking Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.3.9
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
openviking
pypi/openviking
PyPI
< 0.3.9
0.3.9

References

NVD — CVE-2026-40525 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-40525
OpenViking Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/volcengine/OpenViking/pull/1447
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/volcengine/OpenViking/commit/c7bb1676f4d037609f041bf39e4e2bd52e8f9820
OpenViking Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/volcengine/OpenViking
OpenViking Release RELEASE
https://github.com/volcengine/OpenViking/releases/tag/v0.3.9
www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openviki... WEB
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openviking-authentication-bypass-via-vikingbot-openapi

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-40525?
CVE-2026-40525 is a security vulnerability in OpenViking involving Unauthenticated remote bot control via OpenAPI HTTP routes under CWE-636: Not Failing Securely ('Failing Open').
Which OpenViking versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.3.9 across affected packages: openviking.
What version fixes CVE-2026-40525?
Upgrading to 0.3.9 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is openviking affected?
Yes, openviking is affected in releases prior to 0.3.9. Upgrade your dependency to 0.3.9 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-40525?
CVE-2026-40525 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.1 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-40525?
CVE-2026-40525 is classified under CWE-636: Not Failing Securely ('Failing Open') (When the product encounters an error condition or failure, its design requires it to fall back to a state that is less secure than other options that are available, such as selecting the weakest encryption algorithm or using the most permissive access control restrictions.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2026-40525?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show openviking'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-jgq2-vq69-gr6h",
  "modified" : "2026-04-24T20:49:51Z",
  "published" : "2026-04-17T21:31:46Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-40525" ],
  "summary" : "OpenViking: Unauthenticated remote bot control via OpenAPI HTTP routes",
  "details" : "OpenViking prior to commit c7bb167 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in the VikingBot OpenAPI HTTP route surface where the authentication check fails open when the api_key configuration value is unset or empty. Remote attackers with network access to the exposed service can invoke privileged bot-control functionality without providing a valid X-API-Key header, including submitting attacker-controlled prompts, creating or using bot sessions, and accessing downstream tools, integrations, secrets, or data accessible to the bot.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "openviking"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.3.9"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-40525"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/volcengine/OpenViking/pull/1447"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/volcengine/OpenViking/commit/c7bb1676f4d037609f041bf39e4e2bd52e8f9820"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/volcengine/OpenViking"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/volcengine/OpenViking/releases/tag/v0.3.9"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openviking-authentication-bypass-via-vikingbot-openapi"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-636" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-04-24T20:49:51Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-04-17T19:16:39Z"
  }
}