CVE-2026-118548 in Drupal
Summary
by MITRE • 10/30/2026
Incorrect Authorization vulnerability in Drupal AI (Artificial Intelligence) allows Resource Injection. This issue affects AI (Artificial Intelligence) versions: from 0.0.0 to 1.4.11, from 1.5.0 to 1.5.2.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/30/2026
The vulnerability identified in the Drupal AI module represents a critical failure in access control mechanisms that governs how external resources are processed and injected into system operations. This flaw specifically manifests as an improper authorization check within versions ranging from 0.0.0 to 1.4.11, and subsequently from 1.5.0 to 1.5.2 of the module. The core technical issue lies in the application's inability to adequately validate or restrict user permissions before allowing interactions with external artificial intelligence services or internal resource handlers. When a request is initiated by an authenticated user, particularly one with lower privilege levels such as standard editors or contributors, the system fails to enforce strict boundaries on which resources can be accessed or manipulated through AI-driven functions. This lack of granular permission verification allows attackers to bypass intended security controls and execute unauthorized operations that should be restricted to administrators or specific high-privilege roles.
From a technical perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-269, Improper Privilege Management, as the application does not correctly enforce elevation of privilege restrictions during resource injection processes. The mechanism likely involves passing user-supplied input directly into functions that interact with external APIs or internal data structures without sufficient verification of whether the current session has the requisite authority to perform such actions. In many cases involving AI modules in content management systems, this can involve manipulating prompts, model configurations, or output handlers where the system trusts the context provided by the user rather than validating it against a centralized authorization policy. This oversight enables an attacker to inject malicious payloads or trigger unintended side effects within the application environment, potentially leading to data exfiltration, unauthorized modification of content, or further exploitation through server-side request forgery if external resources are involved.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for any organization relying on Drupal AI features for automated content generation, summarization, or analysis. An attacker with a basic authenticated account can exploit this flaw to perform actions that compromise the integrity and confidentiality of the system. This could include injecting harmful code into generated outputs, accessing sensitive data processed by the AI module, or disrupting service availability through resource exhaustion attacks facilitated by improper authorization checks. The ability to inject resources effectively grants the attacker a foothold within the application logic, which can be leveraged for more sophisticated attacks such as cross-site scripting if the injected content is rendered without proper sanitization in subsequent views. Furthermore, depending on the specific implementation of the AI module, this could lead to server-side vulnerabilities where malicious inputs cause unexpected behavior in backend processes that handle large language model interactions or data processing tasks.
Mitigation strategies must focus on immediate remediation through software updates and enhanced access control practices. The primary recommendation is to upgrade the Drupal AI module to a version beyond 1.5.2, where these authorization flaws have presumably been addressed by the developers with stricter permission checks and input validation routines. For organizations unable to update immediately due to compatibility constraints or other operational dependencies, implementing compensating controls is essential. This includes configuring web application firewalls to detect and block anomalous requests associated with resource injection attempts, particularly those targeting AI-related endpoints. Additionally, administrators should enforce the principle of least privilege by ensuring that only trusted users have access to AI functionalities within Drupal. Regular security audits focusing on authorization logic in custom modules or contributed extensions can help identify similar gaps before they are exploited. Monitoring logs for unusual patterns in API calls related to AI services will also aid in early detection and response to potential exploitation attempts, thereby maintaining the overall security posture of the digital infrastructure.