Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild High confidence Not in CISA KEV

CVE-2026-86218

pre-authentication remote code execution

N-able / N-central · affected before 2026.3.1.14

View live feed Monitor via API Watch CVE-2026-86218
Severity
CVSS 10.0 · Critical
Confidence
High
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
0.4%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2026-86218 is an unauthenticated pre-authentication remote code execution affecting N-able N-central. N-central is vulnerable to a pre-auth remote code execution This issue affects N-central: before 2026.3.1.14.

Is it exploited?

Yes. Previdian tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is high. Also confirmed by third-party sources.

Who is affected?

N-able / N-central affected before 2026.3.1.14.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

N-central is vulnerable to a pre-auth remote code execution This issue affects N-central: before 2026.3.1.14

N-central is vulnerable to a pre-auth remote code execution This issue affects N-central: before 2026.3.1.14.

Vendor Product Affected Status
N-able N-central Before 2026.3.1.14 Affected
View vendor advisory (opens in new tab)
Published
06 Sep 2026
Exploitation Reported
06 Sep 2026
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

CVE References

  • CVE Record CVE.org · CVE Record https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-86218
  • Vendor Advisory — me.n-able.com me.n-able.com · Vendor Advisory https://me.n-able.com/s/security-advisory/aArVy0000002Ld3KAE/cve20268...

Exploitation evidence

Why Previdian marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

N-able Uptime

Recorded 06 Sep 2026

Independent exploitation attestation added to the Previdian record.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access
Source Added
N-able Uptime First 2026-09-06 04:15 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
User-Agents
Callback hosts
0
0
0

Request targets and User-Agents available in Pro. Callback host details available in Enterprise.

Scanner coverage

No scanner integrations recorded yet.

Virtual patch status

No Previdian virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

No detection artifacts or sensor request patterns are available for this CVE yet.

Check back as sensor telemetry and scanner integrations are updated.

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v4.0

10.0 Critical
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H

EPSS

0.4%

Weaknesses

Improper Neutralization of Directives in Statically Saved Code ('Static Code Injection') CWE-96

Recent mention · N-able Uptime

URGENT: N-CENTRAL IMMEDIATE HOTFIX REQUIRED

**URGENT: N-CENTRAL IMMEDIATE HOTFIX REQUIRED** We recently communicated about two security vulnerabilities within N-central that were responsibly disclosed by a third party through our voluntary security disclosure program (https://uptime.n-able.com/event/201813/). To address...

Read full advisory

All Mentions

Recent mention · N-able Uptime

URGENT: N-CENTRAL IMMEDIATE HOTFIX REQUIRED

N-able Uptime · 06 Sep 2026

**URGENT: N-CENTRAL IMMEDIATE HOTFIX REQUIRED** We recently communicated about two security vulnerabilities within N-central that were responsibly disclosed by a third party through our voluntary security disclosure program (https://uptime.n-able.com/event/201813/). To address these issues, we released a hotfix and strongly recommend that it be applied immediately to help ensure your environment remains protected. At the time of our initial communication, we had no confirmed evidence that either vulnerability had been exploited in production environments, though unpatched systems remained...

Recent mention · N-able Release Notes

N-central 2026.3 Hotfix 4 – CVE-2026-86218

N-able Release Notes · 06 Sep 2026

Build Number: 2026.3.1.14 Last Updated: Sept 5th 2026  Security Update  This hotfix includes security fixes for CVE-2026-86218 which is a critical-CVSS-rated vulnerability that could allow for pre-authenticated remote code execution on the N-central server  This vulnerability was responsibly disclosed by a third party through our … Continue reading →

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. Added to Previdian KEV Feed

    High-confidence, third-party attested exploitation

  2. Added to the Previdian watchlist

    Added to the Previdian curated list for closer monitoring

  3. CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  4. CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

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  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2026-86218

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2026-86218",
  "confidence": "High",
  "cvss_score": 10.0,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.00411,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}