Vulnerability report

Active exploitation observed Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2026-86218

pre-authentication remote code execution

N-able / N-central · affected before 2026.3.1.14

Watch CVE-2026-86218 Browse KEV feed
Severity
CVSS 10.0 · Critical
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Observed in sensors
EPSS
13.3%
First observed
12 Sep 2026
Last observed
04 Oct 2026

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 sensors observed exploitation attempts with confirmed confidence. Listed in CISA KEV. Also confirmed by third-party sources.

Who is affected?

N-able / N-central affected before 2026.3.1.14.

What should we do?

Patch immediately, validate internet-facing exposure, and monitor for matching requests.

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.

N-able Affected
N-central
Before 2026.3.1.14
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

Tags

cisa nuclei_scanner

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

A trusted third party reported exploitation.

Active exploitation observed

Previdian sensor

First observed 12 Sep 2026

Previdian first observed exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability in our honeypot sensors.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 14 Sep 2026

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

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
CISA 2026-09-08 18:40 UTC
CVE 2026-09-08 19:01 UTC
The Hacker News 2026-09-09 04:27 UTC
Previdian Sensors 2026-10-03 15:11 UTC

Operational indicators for this CVE are listed under Detection.

Sensor telemetry

First-party evidence of exploitation activity

Previdian sensors recorded exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability. The cards and chart show volume, unique attackers, and daily activity.

9

Attempts observed

2

Unique attacker IPs

1

Attacker countries

US

1

Sensors observed

CVE-2026-86218 exploitation attempts over the last 43 days

Daily events observed by Previdian sensors

Updated 23 Oct 2026

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11 Sep 20 Sep 29 Sep 8 Oct 23 Oct

First observed 12 Sep 2026 · Last observed 04 Oct 2026

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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
4
2
0

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

Virtual patch status

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

Learn about virtual patches →

Attacker IP Indicators

Attacker IP indicators observed · available in Pro and Enterprise.

Sensor-derived attacker IP indicators are available to Pro and Enterprise accounts under Detection and through the Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2026/CVE-2026-86218.yaml 19 Sep 2026

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v4.0

10.0 Critical

Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.

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

13.3%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.

Weaknesses

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

Recent mention · Rapid7

Metasploit Wrap Up: A Collection of What Can Only Be Called Eclectic Modules

Read full advisory

All CVSS Scores

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

CVSS v3.1 9.8 Critical

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

All Mentions

Recent mention · Rapid7

Metasploit Wrap Up: A Collection of What Can Only Be Called Eclectic Modules

Rapid7 · 09 Oct 2026

Recent mention · BleepingComputer

How to secure RMM software: 8 controls MSPs should test

BleepingComputer · 06 Oct 2026

RMM platforms give MSPs privileged access across customer environments, making their security controls critical to limiting risk. Acronis outlines eight controls MSPs should test when evaluating RMM software, from patching and privileged access to recovery and tenant isolation. [...]

Recent mention · The Hacker News

N-able N-central Pre-Auth RCE Flaw Exploited in the Wild

The Hacker News · 09 Sep 2026

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Tuesday added a maximum-severity security flaw impacting N-able N-central to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, requiring Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies to apply the fixes by September 11, 2026. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2026-86218 (CVSS score: 10.0), which has been described as a

Recent mention · SOCRadar

N-able N-central HF4 Fixes Critical RCE After Series of Authentication Flaws

SOCRadar · 07 Sep 2026

N-able N-central HF4 Fixes Critical RCE After Series of Authentication Flaws N-able has released N-central 2026.3 Hotfix 4 (build 2026.3.1.14) to fix CVE-2026-86218, a critical pre-authentication remote code execution vu

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 →

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

super-meuw/CVE-2026-86218

github · Created 2026-09-23 12:32:48 UTC · 0 stars · AI assessment 90%

CVE-2026-86218

Udyz/CVE-2026-86218

github · Created 2026-09-14 08:34:16 UTC · 0 stars · AI assessment 90%

CVE-2026-86218 - N-able N-central Struts BeanUtils Unauthenticated RCE

N-able N-central <2026.3.1.14 - Pre-Authentication Remote Code Execution

nuclei · Created Unknown

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. 04:31 UTC

    Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  2. 08:34 UTC

    Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  3. 18:34 UTC

    Indicators of compromise added (2)

    Indicators of compromise recorded

  4. 18:34 UTC

    Observed by Previdian sensors

    Evidence-backed exploitation signal

  5. 04:27 UTC

    KEV confirmed by The Hacker News

    Exploitation attested by an external source

  6. 19:01 UTC

    KEV confirmed by CVE

    Exploitation attested by an external source

  7. 18:40 UTC

    Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  8. 04:15 UTC

    Added to Previdian KEV Feed

    High-confidence, third-party attested exploitation

  9. 03:20 UTC

    Added to the Previdian watchlist

    Pro and Enterprise Watch users had 2 days of early warning before CISA KEV. Also 1 hour before Previdian confirmed it as a KEV.

  10. 02:15 UTC

    CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  11. 22:34 UTC

    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

Sample API response 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2026-86218",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 10.0,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.13349,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": true
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 9, "sensors": 1 }
}