Is CVE-2026-44073 exploited in the wild?

No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-44073 being exploited in the wild.

How severe is CVE-2026-44073?

Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 5, published 21 May 2026.

Which products and versions are affected?

Netatalk team Netatalk 1.5.0 through 4.4.2.

Is there a fix for CVE-2026-44073?

A patch was published on 2026-05-21: Fixed in version 4.5.0 Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

How is CVE-2026-44073 attacked?

It is attacked over the network, in a software library.

Am I affected by CVE-2026-44073?

Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. 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.

CVE-2026-44073: Netatalk improper privilege dropping in authentication modules

CVE-2026-44073 · Severity: medium · CVSS 5 · Published 2026-05-21

Netatalk, a file server suite that allows Linux and Unix systems to serve files to Apple computers, contains a security flaw in its authentication modules. The software fails to stop execution if it cannot properly lower its system privileges, potentially allowing operations to run with higher authority than intended. While difficult to exploit in standard setups, it poses a risk to data integrity and confidentiality if the system's security boundaries fail.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-44073 exploited in the wild?: No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-44073 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-44073?: Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 5, published 21 May 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?: Netatalk team Netatalk 1.5.0 through 4.4.2.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-44073?: A patch was published on 2026-05-21: Fixed in version 4.5.0 Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-44073 attacked?: It is attacked over the network, in a software library.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-44073?: Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. 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.

Technical details

Netatalk versions 1.5.0 through 4.4.2 contain a CWE-273 (Improper Check for Dropped Privileges) vulnerability. The authentication modules log failures of the seteuid() system call but continue execution instead of aborting. This flaw allows a process to potentially operate with root or elevated privileges when it should have transitioned to a lesser-privileged user context. Exploitation is considered difficult (AC:H) as an attacker typically cannot force a seteuid failure under normal conditions, but it represents a significant defense-in-depth failure. The issue is resolved in version 4.5.0.

Affected products

Netatalk team Netatalk 1.5.0 through 4.4.2

Timeline

2026-05-13: disclosed
2026-05-21: advisory: NVD publication date
2026-05-21: patched: Fixed in version 4.5.0

References

https://netatalk.io/security/CVE-2026-44073

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