ServiceNow has issued a pressing security warning for its AI Platform, addressing three maximum-severity vulnerabilities that can be exploited in code injection, SQL injection, and privilege escalation attacks. These flaws affect not only cloud-based instances but also self-hosted ones, putting thousands of organizations at risk.
The ServiceNow AI Platform is used by 85% of Fortune 500 companies to integrate AI into core enterprise workflows, powering over 100,000 apps across various industries. The platform’s widespread adoption makes it a prime target for cyberattacks. The three critical security vulnerabilities – CVE-2026-18885, CVE-2026-18886, and CVE-2026-74820 – can be exploited by unauthenticated threat actors in low-complexity attacks that don’t require user interaction.
The first vulnerability is a code injection flaw that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code. The second issue stems from another code injection weakness that enables privilege escalation, while the third vulnerability enables SQL injection attacks, allowing threat actors to access or modify instance data. These vulnerabilities are particularly concerning because they can be exploited without requiring valid credentials.
ServiceNow has released patches for its cloud-based platform and advised customers to secure their self-hosted instances as soon as possible. The company emphasizes that it is not currently aware of malicious exploitation against ServiceNow instances, but previous attacks have shown the importance of timely patching and updates in preventing security breaches.
In recent years, multiple security flaws in ServiceNow products have been targeted by attackers. In 2024, threat actors chained three ServiceNow flaws using publicly available exploits to breach private firms and government agencies worldwide in data theft attacks. More recently, in July, a critical vulnerability (CVE-2026-6875) was exploited by attackers in the ServiceNow AI Platform.
ServiceNow has also privately disclosed a security incident last month, where researchers or customer-led research used an unauthenticated access flaw to query data from customer instances. The company’s emphasis on securing instances as soon as possible is crucial, given that once attackers have valid credentials, only 37% of their actions are blocked.
In light of this warning, it is essential for ServiceNow customers to prioritize patching and updating their AI Platform installations promptly. This includes applying the latest security patches or upgrading to a patched release if they haven’t already done so. As cyberattacks continue to escalate in complexity and frequency, organizations must remain vigilant and proactive in addressing potential vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by attackers.
Source: Bleeping Computer — 2026-08-28