# CVE-2026-44986: Penpot account takeover via invitation token leakage and registration bypass

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-44986-penpot-account-takeover-via-invitation-token-leakage-and  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-07-15. Updated: 2026-07-15  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-44986 · Severity: critical · CVSS 9.9 · Published 2026-07-15

Penpot, an open-source design and collaboration platform, contained a critical flaw that allowed any registered user to take over any other account on the same system. By exploiting a weakness in how the system handles team invitations and new user registrations, an attacker could gain full access to administrator accounts, customer data, or internal staff profiles without needing the victim's password. This could lead to the total compromise of all design projects and sensitive corporate data stored on the platform.

Technologies: [Penpot](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/penpot). Vendors: [Penpot](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/penpot).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-44986 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-44986 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-44986?** Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 9.9, published 15 July 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Penpot < 2.14.5.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-44986?** A patch was published on 2026-05-06: Fixes merged and version 2.14.5 released. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2026-44986 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a network appliance.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-44986?** Check whether you run Penpot 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.

## Technical details

A critical authentication bypass exists in Penpot's registration and invitation logic. The vulnerability stems from three combined issues: first, the `create-team-invitations` command leaks invitation tokens (JWE) in the API response instead of only sending them via email; second, `prepare-register-profile` fails to reject registration attempts for existing emails and embeds the existing victim's profile ID into a registration JWE; third, `register-profile` issues a valid session for that profile ID if a matching invitation token is provided, skipping password verification. An attacker with a standard account can invite a victim's email to a team they control, capture the leaked token, and use it to complete a registration flow that logs them into the victim's account. This is fixed in version 2.14.5.

## Affected products

- Penpot Penpot < 2.14.5

## Timeline

- 2026-05-06: patched: Fixes merged and version 2.14.5 released.
- 2026-05-19: advisory: Security advisory GHSA-4937-35vc-hqjj published.
- 2026-07-15: disclosed: CVE-2026-44986 published to NVD.

## References

- [https://github.com/penpot/penpot/commit/9e681260ccc4feb6c564ff0773fb9594b462c574](https://github.com/penpot/penpot/commit/9e681260ccc4feb6c564ff0773fb9594b462c574)
- [https://github.com/penpot/penpot/pull/9380](https://github.com/penpot/penpot/pull/9380)
- [https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.14.5](https://github.com/penpot/penpot/releases/tag/2.14.5)
- [https://github.com/penpot/penpot/security/advisories/GHSA-4937-35vc-hqjj](https://github.com/penpot/penpot/security/advisories/GHSA-4937-35vc-hqjj)

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