CVE-2026-52821

mediumpriority · track · 0OT risk · elevatedEPSS 0.004 · 37 %ileUS
grimoire priorityP3 · Track
Exploitable?
—
no known exploitation
Likely / severe?
0.43% (37th) EPSS
CVSS 5.3 · medium
Is it mine?
1 products
Check your exposure
Who says so?
1 sources
osv

EPSS · scored 2026-10-28

Kimai is an open-source time tracking application. Prior to 2.57.0, GET or POST requests to /en/admin/activity/create/{project} and /en/admin/project/create/{customer} require only the generic create_activity or create_project capability and do not verify edit access to the supplied Project or Customer object. A user who knows a valid project.id or customer identifier can use the preset-parent creation logic in src/Controller/ActivityController.php or src/Controller/ProjectController.php to persist a new child business object under an unauthorized parent, polluting project or customer configuration and influencing later time-entry, rate, reporting, and billing behavior. This issue is fixed in version 2.57.0.

01

cvss

Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.

5.3
010

base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · low–medium · 1.3–5.3

v4.05.3mediumCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:Xsecondary · security-advisories@github.com
v4.01.3lowCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:Xsecondary · CVSS-BT (t0sche)
02

ssvc

A stakeholder decision — act, attend, or track — from exploitation and impact.

Exploitation: none · Automatable: yes · Technical Impact: partialcoordinatorcisa_ssvcUS
03

weaknesses

The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.

04

affected products (1)

Products and version ranges known to be affected.

05

advisories (1)

Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.

  • GHSA-3q6q-26vg-v97xKimai: Improper Authorization Through Activity Creation with Preset Project Allows Creation Under Unauthorized Projects2026-07-14ghsa · osvUS

    ### Summary Kimai 2.56.0 contains an authenticated improper authorization vulnerability in the preset-project activity creation flow. A user with the generic `create_activity` permission, but without access to a target project, can still create a new `Activity` under that unauthorized project by visiting the preset project creation route directly. This is a persistent cross-project business-object creation issue. The attacker does not need permission to view or edit the target project and only needs to know a valid `project.id`. ### Details The issue affects the activity creation entry point that accepts a preset project identifier: - `GET/POST /en/admin/activity/create/{project}` - `GET/POST /en/admin/project/create/{customer}` In `src/Controller/ActivityController.php`, the controller checks only the global capability to create activities and does not verify whether the current user is allowed to create an activity under the supplied `Project` object. The form and repository path also preserve the preset project instead of rejecting it when the user lacks access. Because the preset project is merged into the candidate set, the final save operation can persist a new `Activity` under a project that is outside the attacker's authorized project scope. The same logic applies to the `src/Controller/ProjectController.php`. *A PoC was provided, but removed for security reasons.* ### Impact This vulnerability allows an authenticated user to inject new child business objects into projects outside their authorized scope. An attacker can pollute another team's project configuration, influence later timesheet selection and rate inheritance, and create conditions for downstream business abuse if other users start using the injected activity. # Solution - In `ActivityController` we now validate if the project can be edited with `[IsGranted('edit', 'project')]` - In `ProjectController` we now validate if if the customer can be edited with `[IsGranted('edit', 'customer')]` See https://www.kimai.org/en/security/ghsa-3q6q-26vg-v97x

06

sources

Which sources assert this record, and when.

published 2026-09-15modified 2026-09-30
07

references (5) nvd

External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.

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