CVE-2026-48199 in Sermon'e Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 10/06/2026
Unauthenticated Broken Access Control in Sermon'e <= 1.0.2 versions.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/06/2026
The vulnerability identified as an unbroken access control issue within Sermon's version 1.0.2 and earlier represents a critical failure in the application security architecture, specifically falling under the category of broken access controls where authentication mechanisms are bypassed or entirely absent for sensitive operations. This flaw allows any remote attacker who can reach the target system over the network to interact with protected endpoints without providing valid credentials, effectively rendering user identity verification irrelevant for certain parts of the application logic. The root cause typically stems from a misconfiguration in routing tables or middleware that fails to enforce authorization checks on specific API routes or administrative functions, allowing unauthenticated users to perform actions intended only for authenticated administrators or privileged roles.
From a technical perspective, this vulnerability aligns directly with CWE-284, which describes Improper Access Control, and is frequently associated with the MITRE ATT&CK technique T1078, Valid Accounts, although in this specific case it involves unauthenticated access rather than stolen credentials. The absence of proper checks means that sensitive data or administrative capabilities are exposed to the public internet if the service is accessible externally. Attackers can exploit this by crafting HTTP requests to endpoints such as user management interfaces, configuration panels, or database manipulation tools without needing to log in first. This bypasses the intended security boundary and allows for direct interaction with backend systems that should be isolated from untrusted input sources.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe, potentially leading to full system compromise depending on the functionality exposed by these unprotected endpoints. If administrative functions are accessible without authentication, an attacker could create new administrator accounts, modify application settings, delete critical data, or execute arbitrary commands if server-side vulnerabilities exist within those unsecured modules. Even in less extreme scenarios, exposure of user profiles or personal information constitutes a significant privacy breach and regulatory compliance failure under standards such as GDPR or HIPAA. The lack of authentication also facilitates automated scanning tools to rapidly enumerate users, extract sensitive metadata, or launch further attacks against the application infrastructure with minimal effort from the adversary.
Mitigation strategies must prioritize immediate remediation by upgrading Sermon's software to a version greater than 1.0.2 where these access control flaws have been addressed by the developers. In cases where an upgrade is not immediately feasible, temporary compensating controls should be implemented at the network perimeter level. This includes configuring web application firewalls to block requests that target known vulnerable endpoints without valid session tokens or authentication headers. Additionally, administrators should review server configurations to ensure that administrative interfaces are restricted to internal networks via IP whitelisting rather than being exposed directly to the public internet. Regular security audits and penetration testing focused on access control logic are essential to detect similar misconfigurations before they can be exploited in production environments.