CVE-2025-54596 in Abnormal Security
Summary
by MITRE • 07/25/2025
Abnormal Security /v1.0/rbac/users_v2/{USER_ID}/ before 2025-02-19 allows downgrading the privileges of other user accounts.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/25/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-54596 affects Abnormal Security's rbac/users_v2 endpoint, specifically within the /v1.0/rbac/users_v2/{USER_ID}/ API path. This issue represents a critical authorization flaw that enables authenticated attackers to manipulate user privileges within the system's role-based access control framework. The vulnerability exists in versions prior to the 2025-02-19 release, indicating a window of exposure where malicious actors could exploit this weakness to undermine the security posture of the platform.
The technical flaw manifests as an insufficient authorization check during privilege modification operations within the rbac (role-based access control) system. When an authenticated user attempts to downgrade another user's privileges through the /v1.0/rbac/users_v2/{USER_ID}/ endpoint, the system fails to properly validate whether the requesting user possesses sufficient authorization to perform such an operation. This authorization bypass allows attackers with lower privileges to manipulate the access levels of higher-privileged accounts, effectively creating a privilege escalation vector within the system's permission model.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege manipulation, as it fundamentally undermines the principle of least privilege that security architectures depend upon. An attacker who can downgrade user privileges can potentially reduce the access level of administrators or security personnel, thereby weakening the overall security controls. This capability creates a persistent threat vector where malicious actors can systematically weaken the security posture by reducing the permissions of key users, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive data or system functions. The vulnerability's impact is particularly concerning in security platforms where user roles and permissions directly control access to critical threat detection and response capabilities.
From a cybersecurity framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-285 (Improper Authorization) and represents a direct violation of the principle of least privilege as defined in NIST SP 800-53. The issue also maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 (Valid Accounts) and T1484 (Domain Policy Modification) as attackers could leverage this weakness to establish persistent access or manipulate system-wide security configurations. Organizations using Abnormal Security's platform should immediately implement mitigations including immediate patching to version 2025-02-19 or later, implementing additional authorization controls, and conducting comprehensive privilege audits to identify any potential abuse of this vulnerability. The remediation process should also include monitoring for unauthorized privilege changes and establishing more robust logging of access control modifications to detect similar issues in other components of the system.