CVE-2026-55170: OpenFGA case sensitivity mismatch in MySQL datastore

CVE-2026-55170 · Severity: low · CVSS 3.1 · Published 2026-07-09

OpenFGA is an authorization engine used by developers to manage user permissions. When configured to use a MySQL database, the system may fail to distinguish between users with similar names that differ only by capitalization (e.g., 'Alice' vs 'alice'). This could lead to a user being incorrectly granted or denied access based on the permissions of a different account.

Technologies: github.com/openfga/openfga (Go), OpenFGA, Openfga (Helm-Charts). Vendors: Go, OpenFGA.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-55170 exploited in the wild?
No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-55170 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-55170?
Low severity, with a CVSS score of 3.1, published 9 July 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?
github.com/openfga/openfga (Go) < 1.18.0, SEMVER:introduced=0,fixed=1.18.0; OpenFGA < 1.18.0; Openfga (Helm-Charts) < 0.3.9.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-55170?
Yes. github.com/openfga/openfga (Go): upgrade to 1.18.0 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-55170 attacked?
It is attacked over the network, in a hosted service.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-55170?
Check whether you run github.com/openfga/openfga (Go), OpenFGA or Openfga (Helm-Charts) 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

  • github.com/openfga/openfga (Go): upgrade to 1.18.0 or later
    go get github.com/openfga/openfga@v1.18.0

Technical details

An issue in OpenFGA's MySQL datastore implementation causes identifier columns (tuple, changelog, and authorization_model) to use case-insensitive comparisons. This occurs because the default MySQL collation treats values like 'user:Alice' and 'user:alice' as equivalent. An attacker with low privileges could potentially exploit this to receive authorization responses intended for a different, case-distinct user identity. The vulnerability is specific to MySQL deployments; Postgres and SQLite backends are unaffected. Version 1.18.0 fixes this by migrating identifier columns to use 'utf8mb4_bin' collation.

Affected products

  • OpenFGA OpenFGA < 1.18.0
  • OpenFGA openfga (helm-charts) < 0.3.9

Identifiers

  • CVE-2026-55170
  • GHSA-cf98-j28v-49v6
  • GO-2026-5322

Timeline

  • 2026-06-17: patched: Version 1.18.0 and Helm chart 0.3.9 released
  • 2026-06-17: advisory: GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-cf98-j28v-49v6 published
  • 2026-07-09: disclosed: CVE-2026-55170 published to NVD

References

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