CVE-2026-42571
CVE-2026-42571 is a security vulnerability in github.com/pelicanplatform/pelican. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2026-42571 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Privilege Escalation Attack affecting Pelican Web UI
Blast Radius
github.com/pelicanplatform/pelicanReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Pelican is a platform for creating data federations. From versions 7.21.0 to before 7.21.5, 7.22.0 to before 7.22.3, 7.23.0 to before 7.23.3, and 7.24.0 to before 7.24.2, there is a a privilege escalation vulnerability affecting Pelican's Web User Interface (WebUI). This attack allows any user authenticated to the WebUI via OAuth to gain admin privileges under certain configurations. This issue has been patched in versions 7.21.5, 7.22.3, 7.23.3, and 7.24.2.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/pelicanplatform/pelican | all versions | 0.0.0-20260408120501-7f73b9c3e677 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/pelicanplatform/pelican. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update github.com/pelicanplatform/pelican to 0.0.0-20260408120501-7f73b9c3e677 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-42571 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2026-42571 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2026-42571. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-42571 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2026-42571 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.