CVE-2026-42208 — CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) AI Security Vulnerability

LiteLLM is a proxy server (AI Gateway) to call LLM APIs in OpenAI (or native) format. From version 1.81.16 to before version 1.83.7, a database query used during proxy API key checks mixed the caller-supplied key value into the query text instead of passing it as a separate parameter. An...

Full CISO analysis pending enrichment.

Affected Systems

Package	Ecosystem	Vulnerable Range	Patched
litellm	pip	—	No patch
45.5K OpenSSF 6.2 4 dependents Pushed 5d ago 53% patched ~43d to patch Full package profile →

Do you use litellm? You're affected.

Severity & Risk

CVSS 3.1

9.8 / 10

EPSS

N/A

Exploitation Status

No known exploitation

Sophistication

N/A

Attack Surface

AV Network

AC Low

PR None

UI None

S Unchanged

C High

I High

A High

Recommended Action

No patch available

Monitor for updates. Consider compensating controls or temporary mitigations.

Compliance Impact

Compliance analysis pending. Sign in for full compliance mapping when available.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-42208?

LiteLLM is a proxy server (AI Gateway) to call LLM APIs in OpenAI (or native) format. From version 1.81.16 to before version 1.83.7, a database query used during proxy API key checks mixed the caller-supplied key value into the query text instead of passing it as a separate parameter. An unauthenticated attacker could send a specially crafted Authorization header to any LLM API route (for example POST /chat/completions) and reach this query through the proxy's error-handling path. An attacker co

Is CVE-2026-42208 actively exploited?

No confirmed active exploitation of CVE-2026-42208 has been reported, but organizations should still patch proactively.

How to fix CVE-2026-42208?

No patch is currently available. Monitor vendor advisories for updates.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-42208?

CVE-2026-42208 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL).

Technical Details

NVD Description

LiteLLM is a proxy server (AI Gateway) to call LLM APIs in OpenAI (or native) format. From version 1.81.16 to before version 1.83.7, a database query used during proxy API key checks mixed the caller-supplied key value into the query text instead of passing it as a separate parameter. An unauthenticated attacker could send a specially crafted Authorization header to any LLM API route (for example POST /chat/completions) and reach this query through the proxy's error-handling path. An attacker could read data from the proxy's database and may be able to modify it, leading to unauthorised access to the proxy and the credentials it manages. This issue has been patched in version 1.83.7.