Roundcube Pre-Auth SQL Injection Flaw Actively Exploited in the Wild

Summary

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security has issued a warning regarding the active exploitation of a pre-authentication SQL injection vulnerability (CVE-2026-48842) in Roundcube Webmail. This flaw, affecting versions 1.6.x before 1.6.16 and 1.7.x before 1.7.1, allows unauthenticated attackers to inject SQL queries, potentially exposing mail account credentials and messages. Patches were released in May 2026, but exploitation is ongoing, with over 523,000 Roundcube instances exposed online.

Full text

Roundcube Pre-Auth SQL Injection Flaw Actively Exploited in the Wild Ravie LakshmananSep 25, 2026Vulnerability / Email Security The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security has warned that a now-patched Roundcube Webmail vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2026-48842 (CVSS score: 8.1), a pre-authentication SQL injection in the virtuser_query plugin of Roundcube Webmail versions 1.6.x before 1.6.16 and 1.7.x before 1.7.1. The issue stems from a preg_replace() backslash escape bypass that allows attackers to inject arbitrary SQL statements without authentication. "Unauthenticated attackers can inject SQL into Roundcube's database backend through the virtuser_query plugin, potentially exposing mail account credentials and stored messages," SentinelOne said. Patches for the vulnerability were released by Roundcube in May 2026 as part of 1.6.16 and 1.7.1. In an update shared this week, the Cyber Centre said the security flaw is being actively exploited in the wild, citing open-source reporting. No additional details of the exploitation activity have been disclosed. Data from the Shadowserver Foundation shows that there are more than 523,000 Roundcube instances exposed to the internet, with 10 of them flagged as vulnerable hosts as of September 23, 2026. Vulnerabilities in Roundcube have been an attractive target for threat actors looking to harvest sensitive email communications. In July 2026, Proofpoint said it identified a suspected China-aligned adversary dubbed UNK_MassTraction exploiting known security flaws in Roundcube to deliver web shells or a post-exploitation tool called VShell. Way back in February 2026, two other vulnerabilities in the same product (CVE-2025-49113 and CVE-2025-68461) were tagged as actively exploited by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Found this article interesting? Follow us on Google News, Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. SHARE     Tweet Share Share Share SHARE  email security, Vulnerability, Web Security ⚡ Top Stories This Week Claude Opus 5 Helped Researchers Take Over OpenAI Staff Accounts via Chained Flaws Google Gemini Broke Into Real Company Systems After Security Test Domain Mix-Up OpenAI Reveals Six Model Incidents Involving Hidden Failures and Unauthorized Uploads Public Exploits Released for Four Linux Kernel Flaws That Enable Local Root New WordPress Click2Shell Flaw Forces Theme Installs, Can Chain to Code Execution Critical Check Point Management Flaw Lets Unauthenticated Attackers Run Code as Root ThreatsDay: Self-Rewriting Agents, 800+ Flaws Patched, Insider SIM Swaps and 22 More New Stories Critical Unbound DNSSEC Validator Flaw Could Allow RCE via a Malicious DNS Zone Cisco Warns of New Zero-Day ISE Auth Bypass (CVSS 10.0) Exploited in Active Attacks Three Threat Groups Target Russian Enterprises With Backdoors, Ransomware, and Wipers Attacker Hijacks AI Coding Assistant Session, Spreads Shai-Hulud Across About 100 Repositories Google Patches Pixel Modem Flaw Amid Signs of Limited Targeted Exploitation KREMLIN Banking Malware Hijacks Chrome and Edge to Steal Credentials and Session Tokens LiteSpeed Enterprise Flaw Could Let One Hosting Account Gain Root Access on a Shared Server China-Linked Hackers Exploit Chrome-Windows Zero-Day Chain to Deploy GRIMWEDGE Cisco Secure Email Gateway Flaw Exploited in the Wild, Enables Root Command Execution New DDRop Attack Breaks Intel TDX and AMD SEV-SNP Confidential Computing ⚡ Weekly Recap: Rogue AI Agents, WeChat Worm, PaperCut Attacks, AI Espionage, and Rootkits Twitch Browser Extension Leaks OAuth Tokens From Nearly 31,000 Users Attackers Use Passkey Phishing to Hijack Microsoft Cloud Accounts and Exfiltrate Data N0va Phishkit Targets US and EU Businesses: A New Challenge for Identity Security An Abandoned CDN Domain Was Re-Registered. Thousands of Sites Still Call It. How to Evaluate a Unified Security Platform Using a One-Incident Test Stop Trying to Control AI Behavior. Control What AI Can Reach ⭐ Featured Resources Validation Summit ’26: See How Pen Testing, Exposure Validation and BAS Work Together Red Teams: Learn How Attack Path Chaining Changes Automated Security Testing Turn Threat Intelligence Into Verified Risk With Threat-Led Penetration Testing Deploy Browser Security Monitoring in Minutes With a Single Header

Indicators of Compromise

• cve — CVE-2026-48842

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