CVE-2026-25875 in assessment-placipy
Summary
by MITRE • 02/10/2026
PlaciPy is a placement management system designed for educational institutions. In version 1.0.0, The admin authorization middleware trusts client-controlled JWT claims (role and scope) without enforcing server-side role verification.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/12/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2026-25875 affects PlaciPy version 1.0.0, a placement management system utilized by educational institutions for handling student placement data and administrative functions. This security flaw resides within the authorization middleware component that governs access control for administrative operations. The system's design principle relies on JSON Web Tokens for authentication and authorization, but fails to implement proper server-side validation of the claims contained within these tokens. The middleware accepts role and scope claims directly from client-side JWT payloads without performing any verification against the system's actual authorization database or policy enforcement points. This architectural weakness creates a critical privilege escalation vulnerability that allows unauthorized users to assume administrative roles through manipulation of JWT claims.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from a fundamental failure in the principle of least privilege enforcement. According to CWE-285, this represents an authorization bypass vulnerability where the system trusts client-provided data without proper validation. The middleware component acts as a gatekeeper but fails to validate the integrity of the authorization claims it receives, creating a scenario where any user can manipulate their JWT token to include administrative role claims such as "admin" or "superuser" within the role field. This type of vulnerability is classified as a broken access control issue under the OWASP Top Ten 2021, specifically targeting the inadequate enforcement of authorization checks. The scope claims, which typically define what actions a user can perform, can also be modified to grant excessive permissions that would normally be restricted to legitimate administrators.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and potentially catastrophic for educational institutions using PlaciPy. An attacker who gains access to any user account can immediately escalate privileges to administrative level by simply modifying their JWT token to include administrative claims. This allows unauthorized individuals to access, modify, or delete sensitive student placement data, including personal information, academic records, and placement outcomes. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it requires minimal technical skill to exploit, as demonstrated by ATT&CK technique T1078.004 which covers valid accounts used for persistence and privilege escalation. Administrative functions such as user management, system configuration changes, data export capabilities, and placement decision-making processes become immediately accessible to any malicious actor who can intercept or manipulate authentication tokens. The scope of damage extends beyond immediate data access to include potential data manipulation, system misconfiguration, and disruption of institutional operations.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must address both the immediate exploitation risk and the underlying architectural flaw. The primary recommendation involves implementing robust server-side role verification mechanisms that validate JWT claims against the system's actual user permissions database. This includes enforcing strict policy checks where the middleware queries the server's authorization database to confirm that the user actually possesses the roles and scopes claimed in the JWT token. Organizations should implement proper token refresh mechanisms and consider using short-lived tokens combined with refresh token security measures to minimize the window of opportunity for exploitation. Additionally, implementing comprehensive logging and monitoring of administrative activities will help detect unauthorized privilege escalation attempts. The solution aligns with NIST SP 800-53 security controls related to access control and audit logging, ensuring that all authorization decisions are made by the server rather than trusted from client-side claims. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to verify that the authorization middleware properly enforces access controls and that no other similar vulnerabilities exist within the system architecture.