CVE-2026-9099

Keycloak: group-admin escalation to realm-admin

Published Jun 25, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 7.7 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
A flaw was found in Keycloak. A missing authorization check in the GroupResource.addChild() endpoint within the Admin REST API allows an authenticated user with limited administrative privileges to reparent any existing group. When Fine-Grained Admin Permissions v2 (FGAPv2) is enabled, an attacker with management rights over a single low-privilege group can reparent a highly privileged group (such as one possessing the realm-admin role) under their managed group.

Because group permissions follow a hierarchical structure, this action unauthorizedly grants the attacker management and password-reset capabilities over the members of the targeted privileged group. An attacker can exploit this to reset an administrator's password, compromise the account, and achieve a full realm takeover, leading to a complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Remediation

Vendor Workaround

To mitigate this issue, restrict network access to the Keycloak Admin REST API to only trusted networks or localhost. This limits the attack surface by preventing unauthorized access to the API endpoints required for exploitation. Consult your network security documentation for specific firewall or network access control configurations. This may impact remote administration capabilities.

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories available
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:build_keycloak: cpe:/a:redhat:build_keycloak:26.6::el9
References
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description A flaw was found in Keycloak. A missing authorization check in the GroupResource.addChild() endpoint within the Admin REST API allows an authenticated user with limited administrative privileges to reparent any existing group. When Fine-Grained Admin Permissions v2 (FGAPv2) is enabled, an attacker with management rights over a single low-privilege group can reparent a highly privileged group (such as one possessing the realm-admin role) under their managed group. Because group permissions follow a hierarchical structure, this action unauthorizedly grants the attacker management and password-reset capabilities over the members of the targeted privileged group. An attacker can exploit this to reset an administrator's password, compromise the account, and achieve a full realm takeover, leading to a complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Title Keycloak: group-admin escalation to realm-admin
First Time appeared Redhat
Redhat build Keycloak
Weaknesses CWE-639
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:build_keycloak:
Vendors & Products Redhat
Redhat build Keycloak
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
redhat
Published
Updated
Jul 15, 2026, 12:38 AM
Reserved
May 20, 2026, 3:12 PM
Status
Analyzed
Published
Jun 25, 2026, 5:17 PM
Modified
Jul 15, 2026, 1:17 AM
Severity
Important
Public date
Jun 25, 2026, 3:58 PM