---
id: "CVE-2026-85287"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-85287"]
title: "HomeBox: case-variant email registration can lock out existing users"
severity: "medium"
cvss: 6.5
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "package"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["homebox", "package", "self-hosted"]
not_affected_if: ["registration-disabled", "version-0.27.0-or-later"]
published_at: "2026-11-05T17:18:22+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-11-05T17:40:05+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-11-05T17:42:33+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-85287", "first_seen_at": "2026-11-05T17:40:05+00:00"}]
exploit_sources: []
---

# HomeBox: case-variant email registration can lock out existing users

HomeBox, a self-hosted home inventory app, treats email addresses as case-sensitive at registration but case-insensitive at login. An unauthenticated attacker who knows a victim's email can register a differently cased copy, which makes login fail for the victim and bypasses the one-account-per-email rule.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## How to check

- Check the HomeBox version in use; versions below `0.27.0` are affected.
- Review the users table for duplicate email addresses that differ only in letter case.

## Fix

- HomeBox: upgrade to `0.27.0`.

## Timeline

- 2026-11-05T17:40:05+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-85287

## Documents

- [advisory] Vendor advisory: github.com https://github.com/sysadminsmedia/homebox/security/advisories/GHSA-xqg9-6xxv-3452
- [fix] Patch: github.com https://github.com/sysadminsmedia/homebox/commit/fbf8c8505b47c3d46aa6c17f7c657906b5b1b83a
- [fix] Release notes: github.com https://github.com/sysadminsmedia/homebox/releases/tag/v0.27.0

## From the sources

HomeBox is a home inventory and organization system. Prior to 0.27.0, POST /api/v1/users/register and the users.email uniqueness constraint treat email addresses as case-sensitive while HomeBox uses a case-insensitive login lookup. An unauthenticated attacker who knows a victim's email can register a differently cased variant, creating duplicate rows that cause login to return 401 for both variants and deny the victim access, while also bypassing the one-account-per-email policy. This issue is fixed in version 0.27.0.

---

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