# CVE-2026-40525

## Summary

- **CVE ID:** CVE-2026-40525
- **Severity:** CRITICAL
- **CVSS Score:** 9.1 (CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N)
- **CWE:** CWE-636
- **Published:** Apr 17, 2026
- **Last Modified:** Jul 14, 2026

## Description

OpenViking prior to commit c7bb167 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in the VikingBot OpenAPI HTTP route surface where the authentication check fails open when the api_key configuration value is unset or empty. Remote attackers with network access to the exposed service can invoke privileged bot-control functionality without providing a valid X-API-Key header, including submitting attacker-controlled prompts, creating or using bot sessions, and accessing downstream tools, integrations, secrets, or data accessible to the bot.

## Affected Products

- volcengine — OpenViking (0)
- volcengine — OpenViking (c7bb1676f4d037609f041bf39e4e2bd52e8f9820)

## References

- [CNA](https://github.com/volcengine/OpenViking/pull/1447)
- [CNA](https://github.com/volcengine/OpenViking/commit/c7bb1676f4d037609f041bf39e4e2bd52e8f9820)
- [CNA](https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openviking-authentication-bypass-via-vikingbot-openapi)
- [CNA](https://github.com/volcengine/OpenViking/releases/tag/v0.3.9)

## Exploitation Prediction (EPSS)

- **EPSS Score:** 0.57%
- **EPSS Percentile:** 45.3

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_Exported from OnDuty AI Vulnerability Intelligence on 2026-09-11._