Code Injection in litellm (CVE-2026-59821)
Summary
Code injection in litellm (CVE-2026-59821). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Exploitable via POST /guardrails. Mitigation: upgrade to 1.82.0-stable or later.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
Impact
LiteLLM's Custom Code Guardrails production create/update paths did not apply the same sandboxing and validation used by the test endpoint.
A privileged user with access to create or update guardrails could submit custom Python code that executed in the LiteLLM proxy environment. In deployments without a configured master key, callers could be treated as proxy administrators, making this reachable without intended administrative authorization.
This could allow arbitrary code execution in the LiteLLM proxy container and exposure of secrets available to the process.
Patches
The issue is fixed in 1.82.0-stable.
LiteLLM recommend upgrading to 1.82.0-stable or later.
Workarounds
If upgrading is not immediately possible:
- Restrict access to
POST /guardrailsandPUT /guardrails/{guardrail_id}to trusted administrators only. - Ensure
LITELLM_MASTER_KEYis configured. - Avoid enabling Custom Code Guardrails for untrusted users.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database NVD GitHub Advisory
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-59821 has been found in litellm.
Attackers can target a specific entry point like POST /guardrails over the network to misuse the product.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: 7.2/10.
What to do: upgrade litellm to 1.82.0-stable or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "litellm CVE-2026-59821" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2026-59821 (litellm) — CWE-94 / CVSS v3 7.2
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / no user interaction
Attack surface: POST /guardrails / PUT /guardrails/{guardrail_id} / LITELLM_MASTER_KEY
Patched: 1.82.0-stable — apply immediately
Workaround: 1. Restrict access to POST /guardrails and PUT /guardrails/{guardrail_id} to trusted administrators only.
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
Arbitrary code execution (CWE-94) exists in litellm. Attackers reach the vulnerable code path via POST /guardrails.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of litellm. Attack surface: POST /guardrails / PUT /guardrails/{guardrail_id} / LITELLM_MASTER_KEY.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.2/10). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Update to 1.82.0-stable.
Workaround: 1. Restrict access to POST /guardrails and PUT /guardrails/{guardrail_id} to trusted administrators only.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual POST /guardrails requests with malformed payloads or SQL meta-characters. Run grep -r 'litellm' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
-
1Identify exposure identify
grep -r 'litellm' . | grep -v node_modulesリポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で
litellmを grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。 -
2Hunt for indicators of compromise detect
grep 'POST /guardrails' /var/log/nginx/access.log | grep -E '(unusual_payload|sqli_pattern)'アクセスログで
POST /guardrailsへの異常なリクエスト (不正な認証ヘッダ・SQLメタ文字)を過去 30〜90日分捜索。WAF/SIEM があれば該当パスのアラート発火履歴を確認。 -
3Apply temporary workaround mitigate
1. Restrict access to `POST /guardrails` and `PUT /guardrails/{guardrail_id}` to trusted administrators only.パッチが適用されるまでの応急処置として、1. Restrict access to
POST /guardrailsandPUT /guardrails/{guardrail_id}to trusted administrators only. を実施。回避策の副作用 (機能低下) を確認した上で。 -
4Apply patch patch
Upgrade litellm to 1.82.0-stableステージング環境で 1.82.0-stable に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスと、Step 2 で見つけた異常検知の続報チェックを含めること。
-
5Post-deployment verification verify
Replay attack against POST /guardrails on staging to confirm patch closes the vectorパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番では Step 2 と同じログクエリでアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
Affected packages
References
- advisory nvd.nist.gov
- advisory github.com
- package github.com
- package pypi.org
- web github.com
- web github.com
- web github.com