CVE-2026-76298: Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key in the PostgreSQL Sidecar Service in Splunk Enterprise

Published Oct 21, 2026
·
Updated

In Splunk Enterprise versions below 10.4.4 and 10.2.8, a user who does not hold the "admin" or "power" Splunk roles could derive the PostgreSQL sidecar database superuser password and run arbitrary operating system commands as the user account running Splunk Enterprise on search head cluster members. The vulnerability is possible because the PostgreSQL sidecar service derives a privileged database password from the search head cluster identifier that appears in search job logs. For more information see About configuring role-based user access (https://help.splunk.com/en/splunk-enterprise/administer/manage-users-and-security/10.2/manage-splunk-platform-users-and-roles/about-configuring-role-based-user-access), server.conf (https://help.splunk.com/en/splunk-enterprise/administer/admin-manual/10.2/configuration-file-reference/10.2.0-configuration-file-reference/server.conf), and Sidecar configuration settings (https://help.splunk.com/en/splunk-enterprise/administer/admin-manual/10.4/splunk-sidecars/sidecar-configuration-settings) in the Splunk documentation.

Affected Software

1 affected component
Splunk Splunk Enterprise<10.4.4, <10.2.8

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade Splunk Enterprise to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 10.4.4
  2. Upgrade

    Upgrade Splunk Enterprise to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 10.2.8
  3. Upgrade

    Upgrade Splunk Enterprise to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 10.0.11
  4. Upgrade

    Upgrade Splunk Enterprise to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 9.4.16

Event History

Oct 21, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·10:52 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·10:52 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityWeakness

Frequently Asked Questions

1

Which deployments should be prioritized for remediation?

Prioritize Splunk Enterprise search head cluster members running versions below 10.4.4 or 10.2.8. The impact is tied to the PostgreSQL sidecar service on those cluster members.

2

What level of access does an attacker need?

A Splunk user who does not have the admin or power role can exploit the issue. The search head cluster identifier needed to derive the privileged database password appears in search job logs.

3

What is the resulting operating-system impact?

An attacker who derives the PostgreSQL sidecar database superuser password can run arbitrary operating-system commands as the user account that runs Splunk Enterprise. The described impact is on search head cluster members.

Contact

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