CVE-2026-33032: Nginx UI: Unauthenticated MCP Endpoint Allows Remote Nginx Takeover

Is it exploited?

Not on CISA's list. CISA has not added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as of 29 Oct 2026. If CISA adds it, this page shows it as known exploited.

How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?

35.3%

Up from 2.5% on 22 Oct 2026.

EPSS score, percentile 98.4 of all scored records. A probability estimated by FIRST, not a report of exploitation.

CISA's SSVC assessment in the CVE record lists exploitation as poc.

How severe?

9.8 Critical

CVSS v3.1 base score, given by the CNA

What should I do?

CISA has set no required action, because the vulnerability is not in KEV.

The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.

Which versions are affected?

Affected

• <= 2.3.5

Versions by product

Source: CISA KEV 2026.10.29, as of 29 Oct 2026; FIRST EPSS, as of 29 Oct 2026; CVE List, as of 29 Oct 2026. About the data.

What to do

Advisories and patches

The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.

This summary is based on the CVE record as of 29 Oct 2026. Check the vendor's advisory before you act: affected versions and fixes can change.

Affected products and versions

As listed in the CVE record.

Source: CVE List, as of 29 Oct 2026. About the data.

About this vulnerability

Nginx UI is a web user interface for the Nginx web server. In versions 2.3.5 and prior, the nginx-ui MCP (Model Context Protocol) integration exposes two HTTP endpoints: /mcp and /mcp_message. While /mcp requires both IP whitelisting and authentication (AuthRequired() middleware), the /mcp_message endpoint only applies IP whitelisting - and the default IP whitelist is empty, which the middleware…

Summary: CVE record, as of 29 Oct 2026.

• CISA has not added CVE-2026-33032 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, as of 29 Oct 2026.
• The CVE record was published on 30 Mar 2026.
• The CVE record carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (Critical), given by its CNA.
• FIRST's EPSS model puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 35.3% (percentile 98.4), as of 29 Oct 2026. EPSS is a statistical estimate, not a report of exploitation.
• CISA's SSVC assessment in the CVE record: exploitation poc, automatable yes, technical impact total.

Source: CISA KEV 2026.10.29, as of 29 Oct 2026; CVE List, as of 29 Oct 2026; FIRST EPSS, as of 29 Oct 2026. About the data.

Description

Nginx UI: Unauthenticated MCP Endpoint Allows Remote Nginx Takeover

Nginx UI is a web user interface for the Nginx web server. In versions 2.3.5 and prior, the nginx-ui MCP (Model Context Protocol) integration exposes two HTTP endpoints: /mcp and /mcp_message. While /mcp requires both IP whitelisting and authentication (AuthRequired() middleware), the /mcp_message endpoint only applies IP whitelisting - and the default IP whitelist is empty, which the middleware treats as "allow all". This means any network attacker can invoke all MCP tools without authentication, including restarting nginx, creating/modifying/deleting nginx configuration files, and triggering automatic config reloads - achieving complete nginx service takeover. At time of publication, there are no publicly available patches.

Source: CVE List, as of 29 Oct 2026. About the data.

Timeline