⚠ Reference material — not professional advice. Test in staging, back up first, verify against your specific version. Use your own judgment for your environment.
● Medium · CVSS 6.8

How to Fix CVE-2026-45246: Arbitrary File Read in summarize

Other vulnerabilities in the same area that are worth patching alongside this one:

*By Sai Kiran Pandrala*

⚡ At a glance
SeverityCVSS 6.8 - Medium
Actively exploited?Not currently listed in CISA KEV
Affected0 < 0.15.1
Fixed in9e990193650a23dab73f37d5e1964d574a44098b
Type (CWE)CWE-732: Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource

What is CVE-2026-45246?

CVE-2026-45246 is an arbitrary file read flaw in summarize. An authenticated or unauthenticated request can read files outside the intended path scope, exposing configuration, secrets, or other sensitive content. Vendor description: Summarize prior to 0.15.1 contains an insecure file permission vulnerability in the refresh-free configuration rewrite path that allows local users to read sensitive credentials by exploiting default filesystem permissions. When the refresh-free path rewrites the configuration file, it creates the replacement with default process umask permissions instead of preserving the original file permissions, exposing the config file containing API keys and provider credentials to other local users on shared Unix-like systems.

Why this CVE matters

Arbitrary file read against a management product almost always exposes credentials, session secrets, or configuration. Treat any disclosure of this kind as a credential-rotation event in addition to a patching event.

For deployments of summarize that have been exposed to the public internet during the disclosure window, the operating assumption should be that scanning has already happened. Even where exploitation has not been publicly observed, scanning for the vulnerable fingerprint is cheap and routine. Patching closes the door; log review and credential rotation close out the rest of the response.

Am I affected?

You are affected if your installation matches any of these version ranges:

Check your installed version against the list above. If you cannot determine the version, treat the system as affected and follow the upgrade path below.

Open summarize's About dialog or run the vendor-documented version-check command. Compare the result against the affected ranges in the advisory.

How to fix CVE-2026-45246

  1. Read the vendor advisory in full: https://github.com/steipete/summarize/releases/tag/v0.15.2
  2. Upgrade summarize to 9e990193650a23dab73f37d5e1964d574a44098b or a later version listed in the vendor advisory.
  3. Back up the configuration (and database, where applicable) before upgrading.
  4. Apply the patch in a maintenance window. For HA pairs, upgrade the standby node first, fail over, then upgrade the former primary.
  5. Restart the affected service so the patched binary loads, then verify the new version (see verification section).

Upgrade steipete summarize


# CVE-2026-45246 affects summarize 0 < 0.15.1.
# Fixed in 0.15.1. Vendor advisory: https://github.com/steipete/summarize/commit/9e990193650a23dab73f37d5e1964d574a44098b

# 1. Identify the running version using the vendor-documented command.
#    (Open the product UI -> About, or run the CLI version probe.)

# 2. Stage the patched build named in the advisory.
#    Vendor advisory: https://github.com/steipete/summarize/commit/9e990193650a23dab73f37d5e1964d574a44098b

# 3. Apply the upgrade. If the vendor ships a Linux package, pull it via your
#    distribution's package manager:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install --only-upgrade summarize        # Debian / Ubuntu
sudo dnf upgrade summarize                                          # RHEL / Rocky / Alma / Fedora

# 4. Restart the affected service so the new binary loads.
sudo systemctl restart summarize 2>/dev/null || true

# 5. Re-run the version probe and confirm it matches 0.15.1.


# Windows-hosted installs of summarize: apply via PSWindowsUpdate or the vendor MSI.
Install-Module PSWindowsUpdate -Force -SkipPublisherCheck -Confirm:$false
Get-WindowsUpdate -AcceptAll -Install -AutoReboot

Verify the fix landed


# CVE-2026-45246 verification checklist.

# 1. Confirm the running version matches 0.15.1 (replace the version probe with
#    the platform-specific command shown above).

# 2. Re-scan the host with your vulnerability scanner (Nessus, Qualys, Tenable,
#    OpenVAS, Wazuh). The scanner must no longer flag CVE-2026-45246.

# 3. Inspect recent service and kernel logs for crash-loops or rollback events.
journalctl -u <service-name> --since "10 minutes ago"
dmesg --since "10 minutes ago"

# 4. Cross-check the running build against the vendor advisory:
#    https://github.com/steipete/summarize/commit/9e990193650a23dab73f37d5e1964d574a44098b

If you cannot patch immediately

No official workaround exists beyond restricting network exposure to the affected component. Apply the vendor patch as the primary remediation.

How to verify the fix worked

If your installation was internet-reachable during the disclosure window, treat log review as part of the remediation rather than an optional follow-up. Look for unusually long URI paths containing traversal sequences, unexpectedly large responses from the affected endpoint, and outbound requests from the application to internal addresses or cloud-metadata endpoints. Treat any sensitive file the bug could disclose as exposed.

Frequently asked questions

Is CVE-2026-45246 being exploited in the wild?

Public exploitation has not been confirmed by CISA at the time of writing. Treat the patch as time-sensitive anyway; reports often lag actual abuse.

Will a WAF or IDS rule fully mitigate CVE-2026-45246?

No. Network-layer filters can reduce noise and slow opportunistic scanners, but they will not stop a determined attacker. The vendor patch is the only durable fix.

How long should I plan for the upgrade?

Typical vendor-documented upgrade windows for summarize run from a few minutes to under an hour depending on cluster size. Test in a staging environment first and follow the vendor's documented HA upgrade order.

References

*This guide was assembled from the official vendor advisory, the NVD record, and the CISA KEV catalog entry on 2026-05-25. Always confirm against the vendor advisory before applying changes in production.*