CVE-2026-56265: Crawl4AI Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-8qrg-7j2f-rf2h
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-798
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-56265 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) authentication bypass vulnerability (CWE-798: Use of Hard-coded Credentials) affecting Crawl4AI libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves authentication bypass vulnerability due to a hardcoded default jwt signing key in the docker api server. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.8.7.

CVE-2026-56265 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-56265
GHSA Identifier GHSA-8qrg-7j2f-rf2h
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-798: Use of Hard-coded Credentials
Affected Product Crawl4AI
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

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:H).

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 High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2026-56265

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Crawl4AI dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

crawl4ai fixed: 0.8.7 
pip install crawl4ai>=0.8.7
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 crawl4ai

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2026-56265, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show crawl4ai

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Crawl4AI in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.8.7), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show crawl4ai command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-798: Use of Hard-coded Credentials, where the product contains hard-coded credentials, such as a password or cryptographic key. In Crawl4AI, 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

Crawl4AI before 0.8.7 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability due to a hardcoded default JWT signing key in the Docker API server. Attackers who know the default key can forge valid authentication tokens for any user, bypassing authentication and gaining full access to protected functionality.

CVE-2026-56265 Affected Crawl4AI Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.8.7
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
crawl4ai
pypi/crawl4ai
PyPI
< 0.8.7
0.8.7

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai/security/advisories/GHSA-365w-hqf6-vxfg
NVD — CVE-2026-56265 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-56265
Crawl4AI Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai
Crawl4AI Release RELEASE
https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai/releases/tag/v0.8.7
www.vulncheck.com/advisories/crawl4ai... WEB
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/crawl4ai-authentication-bypass-via-hardcoded-jwt-signing-key

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-56265?
CVE-2026-56265 is a security vulnerability in Crawl4AI involving authentication bypass vulnerability due to a hardcoded default JWT signing key in the Docker API server under CWE-798: Use of Hard-coded Credentials.
Which Crawl4AI versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.8.7 across affected packages: crawl4ai.
What version fixes CVE-2026-56265?
Upgrading to 0.8.7 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is crawl4ai affected?
Yes, crawl4ai is affected in releases prior to 0.8.7. Upgrade your dependency to 0.8.7 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-56265?
CVE-2026-56265 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-56265?
CVE-2026-56265 is classified under CWE-798: Use of Hard-coded Credentials (The product contains hard-coded credentials, such as a password or cryptographic key.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2026-56265?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show crawl4ai'. 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-8qrg-7j2f-rf2h",
  "modified" : "2026-09-14T17:19:35Z",
  "published" : "2026-06-21T15:31:24Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-56265" ],
  "summary" : "Crawl4AI: authentication bypass vulnerability due to a hardcoded default JWT signing key in the Docker API server",
  "details" : "Crawl4AI before 0.8.7 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability due to a hardcoded default JWT signing key in the Docker API server. Attackers who know the default key can forge valid authentication tokens for any user, bypassing authentication and gaining full access to protected functionality.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "crawl4ai"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.8.7"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai/security/advisories/GHSA-365w-hqf6-vxfg"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-56265"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai/releases/tag/v0.8.7"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/crawl4ai-authentication-bypass-via-hardcoded-jwt-signing-key"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-798" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-09-14T17:19:35Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-06-21T14:16:24Z"
  }
}