CVE-2026-96652
Plex Media Server before 1.43.3.10861 allows SSRF via '/player/timeline'. An attacker using any X-Plex-Token value can include a full URL in the 'protocol' parameter and force the Plex server to POST to the attacker's chosen destination.
do firstUpgrade to a fixed release: 1.43.3.10861.
Can a WAF block it? Partly. The attack is delivered via an HTTP request to the /player/timeline endpoint with a 'protocol' parameter containing a full URL, which is unusual and can be detected by a WAF rule matching this parameter's content. A WAF rule can match 'protocol' parameter containing a full URL in /player/timeline endpoint. No tracked WAF vendor has published a rule for this CVE yet, so you would write it yourself.
What a custom rule would match: 'protocol' parameter containing a full URL in /player/timeline endpoint
Also consider: patch · custom WAF rule · egress filter · IMDSv2
Based on an AI reading of the CVE description, and no vendor rule found yet. We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.
Is CVE-2026-96652 being exploited?
Yes. CVE-2026-96652 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.
How severe is CVE-2026-96652?
CVE-2026-96652 is rated Medium with a CVSS score of 4.3. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-96652?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-96652. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-96652 affect?
CVE-2026-96652 affects plex:media_server. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
- affected< 1.43.3.10861
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.
public exploits
Unvetted proof-of-concept code on GitHub: 7 GitHub proofs of concept · 1 Nuclei template
- Plex Media Server < 1.43.3.10861 - Unauthenticated SSRF via Companion Protocol (plex2shell) · detection template · medium
- code-zm/plex2shell · 103 ★
- ChrisLPJones/plex2shell-check · 1 ★
- gmh5225/plex2shell · 0 ★
- w116tjb/plex2shell-windows-hunt · 0 ★
Listed so you can judge urgency, not as a recommendation to run anything. GitHub “proofs of concept” are unvetted: some are fake or carry malware. Exploit-DB marks the entries its staff verified.
cisa ssvc
- exploitation
- active
- automatable
- no
- technical impact
- partial
Assessed by CISA 20 Oct 2026 (SSVC 2.0.3).
timeline
- 23 Sept 2026Published
- 17 Oct 2026First proof-of-concept repository on GitHub (unvetted) · 23 days later
- 20 Oct 2026Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild) · 3 days later
- 20 Oct 2026CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active · same day later
- 21 Oct 2026CVE record last updated · 1 day later
- 2 Nov 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com · 13 days later
- 3 Nov 2026CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies) · same day later
- Advisoryraw.githubusercontent.com /cisagov/CSAF/develop/csaf_files/IT/white/2026/va-26-266-01.json
- Advisoryzmain.info /blog/plex2shell
- Linkforums.plex.tv /t/plex-media-server/30447/711
- Linkcve.org /CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-96652
- Linkcisa.gov /known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-96652
sources
- CVE List (CVE.org): description, affected versions, references; CVE Terms of Use
- NVD: CVSS and CPE data
- CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, due date
- CISA Vulnrichment (ADP): SSVC decision points
- FIRST EPSS: exploit probability and percentile
- Nuclei templates: detection templates
- PoC-in-GitHub: GitHub repositories that claim a proof of concept
- Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.