Privilege escalation in Litespeedtech Litespeed_cpanel_plugin

CVE-2026-48172

LiteSpeed User-End cPanel Plugin before 2.4.5 allows privilege escalation (possibly to root), as exploited in the wild in May 2026. Detection is best done via a command line of grep -rE "cpanel_jsonapi_func=redisAble" /var/cpanel/logs /usr…

EPSS: 0.080 (92.2th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 9.8 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities)

This CVE is on the CISA KEV catalog, added on . CISA KEV inclusion means CISA has confirmed in-the-wild exploitation; US federal agencies are required to remediate within a published due date.

BOD 22-01 due date: .

Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-48172?
CVE-2026-48172 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Litespeedtech Litespeed_cpanel_plugin, classified under Incorrect Privilege Assignment. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2026-05-21.
How severe is CVE-2026-48172?
Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2026-48172 known to be exploited?
Yes. CVE-2026-48172 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2026-05-26), indicating it is being actively exploited. 3 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.