CVE-2025-32736 in PingFederate
Summary
by MITRE • 08/11/2026
Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses in the Administrative Console of PingFederate versions before version 13.1 may allow actors to perform unauthorized actions via specially-crafted links triggered by administrators with active sessions.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/11/2026
Cross site request forgery vulnerabilities in pingfederate administrative console represent a critical security weakness that can be exploited by malicious actors to execute unauthorized administrative operations. These vulnerabilities affect versions prior to 13.1 and specifically target the administrative interface where privileged actions can be performed through crafted web requests. The flaw stems from insufficient validation of origin requests within the administrative console, allowing attackers to construct malicious links that, when clicked by administrators with active sessions, would execute commands without proper authorization.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the absence of anti-forgery tokens or similar protective mechanisms in the administrative console's request processing. When an administrator navigates to the console and maintains an active session, their browser retains authentication credentials that can be leveraged by malicious actors. The attack vector typically involves sending specially crafted HTTP requests that appear legitimate to the server but are actually designed to perform unauthorized operations within the context of the authenticated administrator session.
This vulnerability operates under the common weakness enumeration framework as a CWE-352 - Cross-Site Request Forgery, which is classified as a web application security flaw that allows attackers to perform actions on behalf of authenticated users. The operational impact encompasses potential complete system compromise through unauthorized administrative access, including but not limited to user account manipulation, configuration changes, data exfiltration, and privilege escalation within the pingfederate environment.
The attack pattern aligns with the attack technique T1566.002 from the mitre att&ck framework which covers spearphishing with a link, where attackers craft malicious links designed to exploit web application vulnerabilities. Administrators who click these links while logged into the pingfederate console would unknowingly execute commands that they did not authorize, potentially leading to complete system takeover or data breach scenarios.
Mitigation strategies must include implementing robust anti-forgery token mechanisms within the administrative console, ensuring that all state-changing operations require verification of legitimate user intent. Organizations should upgrade to pingfederate version 13.1 or later where these vulnerabilities have been addressed through proper session validation and request origin checking. Additional protective measures include implementing web application firewalls, monitoring for suspicious administrative activities, and conducting regular security assessments to identify similar vulnerabilities in related applications within the organization's attack surface.