Broken Access Control - High Risk in Open WebUI Discovered

What Happened

SEC Consult Vulnerability Lab has disclosed a serious vulnerability in Open WebUI, a self-hosted AI interface. This flaw, identified as CVE-2026-34222, involves broken access control in the Tool Valves feature. It allows low-privileged users to access sensitive data, including API keys, which should only be available to administrators.

The Flaw

The vulnerability arises from improper restrictions on the Tool Valves endpoint. This endpoint should only allow administrators to access certain configurations. However, due to a lack of proper checks, a user with merely 'Member' privileges can retrieve sensitive information. This could lead to unauthorized access to third-party systems, significantly compromising security.

What's at Risk

The potential impact of this vulnerability is high. If exploited, it could allow an attacker to gain access to sensitive API keys and other configurations that could be used to manipulate or extract data from connected systems. Such access could lead to data breaches or unauthorized actions within the organization.

Patch Status

The vendor has released a patched version, v0.8.11, which addresses this vulnerability. Users are strongly advised to upgrade to this version to mitigate risks associated with this flaw. The patch can be found on the official Open WebUI GitHub releases page.

Immediate Actions

• Update Open WebUI to version v0.8.11 immediately.
• Conduct a thorough security review of your Open WebUI setup to identify any other potential vulnerabilities.
• Monitor for any unusual activity that may indicate exploitation of this flaw.

Conclusion

This vulnerability highlights the critical importance of proper access controls in software applications. Organizations using Open WebUI should prioritize applying the patch and reviewing their security posture to protect against potential exploitation.