CVE-2026-111604 in eladmin
Summary
by MITRE • 10/16/2026
eladmin through 2.7 contains an authorization bypass vulnerability that allows department-scoped user managers to modify or delete accounts outside their data scope because write handlers skip department checks. Attackers with user:edit or user:del permissions can send PUT or DELETE requests to /api/users with target user ids to disable, reassign, alter, or delete accounts in other departments.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/16/2026
The vulnerability identified in eladmin versions up to 2.7 represents a critical failure in role-based access control mechanisms, specifically manifesting as an authorization bypass that undermines the intended data isolation policies of the application. This flaw stems from a fundamental architectural oversight where the backend write handlers for user management endpoints do not enforce department-scoped restrictions when processing modification or deletion requests. In a properly secured system utilizing multi-tenant or hierarchical organizational structures, users should only be permitted to manage accounts within their own designated departmental boundaries. However, in this vulnerable implementation, the application logic fails to validate whether the target resource belongs to the requester's authorized scope before executing state-changing operations. This absence of server-side authorization checks allows any authenticated user possessing basic editing or deletion permissions to interact with resources outside their permitted domain, effectively breaking the isolation guarantees provided by the system's design.
From a technical perspective, the exploitation vector involves sending HTTP PUT or DELETE requests directly to the /api/users endpoint while specifying target user identifiers that belong to other departments. The application processes these requests without verifying if the requester has administrative privileges over those specific entities. This behavior aligns with CWE-284 Improper Access Control and more specifically CWE-639 Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key, as the attacker leverages a controllable input parameter (the user ID) to access resources they are not authorized to manage. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it does not require privilege escalation; standard users with routine maintenance permissions can escalate their impact by manipulating data belonging to peers or higher-level administrators within different organizational units. This reflects common patterns seen in ATT&CK technique T1078 Valid Accounts, where legitimate credentials are used to perform unauthorized actions due to flawed access control logic rather than credential theft.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted, affecting the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of user data within the organization. Attackers can disable accounts belonging to other departments, potentially causing service disruptions for those teams by locking out legitimate users from accessing critical systems. Furthermore, they can reassign ownership or alter account details, which may lead to unauthorized access if sensitive information is exposed or if administrative rights are inadvertently transferred. The ability to delete user accounts entirely poses a significant risk of data loss and operational downtime, requiring manual intervention to restore affected accounts and potentially leading to forensic complications in tracking the source of the breach. In enterprise environments where eladmin is used for managing complex organizational structures, this flaw effectively nullifies the security model's reliance on departmental segmentation, allowing lateral movement within the application layer without detection by standard audit logs that may not flag cross-departmental access attempts as anomalous if they originate from valid sessions.
Mitigation strategies must focus on implementing robust server-side authorization checks at every point where user data is modified or deleted. Developers should enforce strict validation logic that compares the department ID of the requesting user against the department ID associated with the target resource, rejecting any requests where these do not match unless the requester holds explicit super-administrator privileges capable of cross-departmental management. Additionally, implementing principle of least privilege ensures that users are granted only the minimum permissions necessary for their role, reducing the attack surface available to potential abusers. It is also recommended to enhance audit logging to capture and alert on unusual patterns such as frequent access attempts across multiple departments or bulk deletion operations initiated by non-administrative accounts. For organizations currently running vulnerable versions of eladmin, immediate patching to version 2.7.1 or later is essential, as these updates typically include the necessary fixes for authorization checks in user management endpoints. Until patches are applied, deploying a Web Application Firewall with rules that monitor and restrict direct API manipulation based on role-based policies can provide an additional layer of defense against exploitation attempts.