CVE-2026-42303: Ethyca Fides authentication bypass in privacy request approval

CVE-2026-42303 · Severity: medium · CVSS 4 · Published 2026-05-12

Fides is an open-source platform used by organizations to manage data privacy requests, such as requests from users to delete their personal information. A flaw in the system allowed administrators to approve data deletion or access requests even if the person making the request had not verified their identity. This could lead to the unauthorized deletion of a customer's records across all connected business systems if an attacker submits a fraudulent request that is then approved by an administrator.

Technologies: Ethyca Fides, ethyca-fides (PyPI). Vendors: Ethyca, PyPI.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-42303 exploited in the wild?
No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-42303 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-42303?
Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 4, published 12 May 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?
Ethyca Fides 2.75.0 to before 2.83.2; Ethyca Fides Enterprise < 2.83.2; Ethyca Fides OSS >= 2.75.0, < 2.83.2; ethyca-fides (PyPI) >= 2.75.0, < 2.83.2, ECOSYSTEM:introduced=2.75.0,fixed=2.83.2.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-42303?
Yes. ethyca-fides (PyPI): upgrade to 2.83.2 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-42303 attacked?
It is attacked over the network, in a network appliance.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-42303?
Check whether you run Ethyca Fides, Ethyca Fides Enterprise, Ethyca Fides OSS or one of the others listed at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

How to fix

  • ethyca-fides (PyPI): upgrade to 2.83.2 or later
    pip install "ethyca-fides>=2.83.2"

Technical details

A vulnerability exists in Fides where privacy requests marked with a 'duplicate' status could bypass identity verification requirements during the administrator approval workflow. When both subject identity verification and duplicate privacy request detection are enabled, the system allowed the 'duplicate' status to be an acceptable state for approval without a secondary check for 'identity_verified_at' timestamps. An attacker can exploit this by submitting multiple requests; if a request is flagged as a duplicate, an administrator could manually approve it even if the requester never completed the verification flow. This results in an authentication bypass for critical privacy actions, such as data erasure across all configured integrations. The issue is fixed in version 2.83.2 by enforcing identity verification checks even for duplicate-status overrides.

Affected products

  • Ethyca Fides 2.75.0 to before 2.83.2

Identifiers

  • CVE-2026-42303
  • GHSA-qx5f-ghc2-7g5c
  • PYSEC-2026-2471

Timeline

  • 2026-04-21: patched: Fixes merged into main branch
  • 2026-05-12: advisory: CVE-2026-42303 published

References

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