CVE-2026-91160
Description
OpenWA is a free, open source, self-hosted WhatsApp API gateway. Prior to 0.23.5, the /events WebSocket gateway delivers the session.qr event to a VIEWER API key that subscribes by event name or through either wildcard subscription form, even though GET /api/sessions/{sessionId}/qr requires the OPERATOR role. When an allowed session is waiting to be paired, the exposed QR lets the key holder link an external device to the WhatsApp account and then read and send messages outside OpenWA and its audit trail. Keys restricted through allowedSessions remain limited to those sessions, and deployments that issue only OPERATOR or ADMIN keys are not affected. This issue is fixed in version 0.23.5.
Predictions
Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.
Mitigations
No mitigations published for this CVE yet.
The vendor-content worker queues fetches as references arrive (check back in a few minutes). Or — if you've already worked around this in production — publish your fix to the community-verified tier.
Propose a mitigation on Community Mitigations published via the community go through AI scoring + 2 human reviewers + 7-day silent objection window before landing here withsource_tier=community-verified.
References
- https://github.com/rmyndharis/OpenWA/commit/acc23c3803c07f43791a92e8e48456572fd69bdc
- https://github.com/rmyndharis/OpenWA/commit/b9d9ea1c57bde98b7833a5d6e482998703667ef0
- https://github.com/rmyndharis/OpenWA/pull/1602
- https://github.com/rmyndharis/OpenWA/releases/tag/v0.23.5
- https://github.com/rmyndharis/OpenWA/security/advisories/GHSA-m427-j4h4-9qwj
CWEs
CWE-862
Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.
Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.