CVE-2026-9704: Keycloak: keycloak: privilege escalation due to oversized subject_token jwt

Severity: high (CVSS 8.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-05-27 · updated 2026-06-26
Weakness: CWE-1284

Description

A flaw was found in Keycloak. An authenticated user with low privileges can exploit this vulnerability by sending an oversized subject_token JSON Web Token (JWT) to the TokenEndpoint. When the token exceeds a 4000-character limit, it is silently dropped, causing the system to fall back to client credentials. This allows the user to gain the permissions of the client's service account, leading to privilege escalation.

Affected products

Red Hat build of Keycloak 26.4: all versions

References

https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:25097
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:25098
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:30049
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:30050
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-9704
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2481877

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