CVE-2026-53603: nebula-mesh: Operator session tokens stored in plaintext in the database
Operator session tokens are stored in plaintext in the operator_sessions table (the token column is the PRIMARY KEY). The session token is a 32-byte random hex value sent directly in a cookie and valid for 24 hours.
internal/models/operator.go:61—OperatorSession.Tokenholds the plaintext token.internal/store/sqlite_operators.go:590—CreateOperatorSessioninsertssess.Tokenverbatim.internal/store/sqlite_operators.go:603,642,681,698— lookups/updates/deletes useWHERE token = ?against the plaintext value.
Anyone who can read the database (backup, snapshot, file copy, or SQL-level disclosure) obtains every active session token and can hijack operator sessions directly, with no further authentication.
This is functionally identical to the plaintext enrollment-token issue fixed in GHSA-ghmh-jhmj-wcmf. API keys (OperatorAPIKey.KeyHash) and enrollment tokens (EnrollmentToken.TokenHash) already store only a SHA256 hash; session tokens were missed.
References
Code Behaviors & Features
Detect and mitigate CVE-2026-53603 with GitLab Dependency Scanning
Secure your software supply chain by verifying that all open source dependencies used in your projects contain no disclosed vulnerabilities. Dependency Scanning using SBOM also detects vulnerabilities from proprietary advisories that this site does not include. Learn more about Dependency Scanning using SBOM →