CVE-2026-3121 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) CWE-266 vulnerability in org.keycloak:keycloak-services. A fix is available for org.keycloak:keycloak-services — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Keycloak: manage-clients permission escalates to full realm admin access
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-3121.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
org.keycloak:keycloak-servicesReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
A flaw was found in Keycloak. An administrator with manage-clients permission can exploit a misconfiguration where this permission is equivalent to manage-permissions. This allows the administrator to escalate privileges and gain control over roles, users, or other administrative functions within the realm. This privilege escalation can occur when admin permissions are enabled at the realm level.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.keycloak:keycloak-services | all versions | 26.5.6org.keycloak:keycloak-services:26.5.6 |
Affected Products
build of keycloakredhatjboss enterprise application platformredhatjboss enterprise application platform expansion packredhatsingle sign-onredhatDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.keycloak:keycloak-services, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.keycloak:keycloak-services to 26.5.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-3121 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Close the privilege gap rather than the entry point: audit which accounts, roles and service identities can reach the affected operation, drop the component to the least privilege it actually needs, and review file and directory permissions created by earlier installs — a default left in place is what makes this reachable.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
This issue was rated MODERATE. A privilege escalation flaw exists in Keycloak where an administrator with `manage-clients` permission can escalate privileges if "Admin Permissions" are enabled at the realm level.
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2026-3121 (CC BY 4.0)
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat build of Keycloak 26.4 | rhbk/keycloak-operator-bundle:26.4.11-1 | RHSA-2026:6478 |
| Red Hat build of Keycloak 26.4.11 | rhbk/keycloak-rhel9 | RHSA-2026:6477 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-3121 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.