CVE-2026-55682 in WeGIA
Summary
by MITRE • 10/14/2026
WeGIA is a web manager for charitable institutions. Prior to 3.8.6, the auto-prepended web/html/seguranca/sessionStart.php reflects an attacker-supplied PHPSESSID cookie in a Set-Cookie response and uses DB_HOST as the cookie domain. If a victim authenticates while using the attacker-selected identifier, the attacker can reuse that identifier to hijack the authenticated session. The response also discloses the internal database host name through the cookie Domain attribute, and the vulnerable session handler affects all PHP pages. This issue is fixed in version 3.8.6.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/14/2026
The vulnerability identified in WeGIA versions prior to 3.8.6 represents a critical flaw in session management architecture that facilitates both unauthorized access through session hijacking and information disclosure via internal infrastructure exposure. As a web manager designed for charitable institutions, the application handles sensitive data requiring robust authentication controls. The core technical deficiency lies within the file located at web/html/seguranca/sessionStart.php, which serves as an auto-prepended script affecting all PHP pages executed by the application. This design choice means that any request processed by the system is subject to this flawed session handling logic, amplifying the attack surface significantly compared to vulnerabilities confined to specific endpoints.
The primary mechanism of exploitation involves improper validation and sanitization of the PHPSESSID cookie provided in incoming requests. The application reflects an attacker-supplied value for the PHPSESSID directly into a Set-Cookie response header without adequate verification that the session identifier is valid or authorized for the current context. This behavior allows an adversary to inject arbitrary session identifiers, effectively manipulating how the server tracks user state. By controlling this identifier, an attacker can establish a persistent link with the application's internal session storage mechanism, bypassing standard security checks that rely on unique and unpredictable session tokens.
A secondary but equally dangerous aspect of this vulnerability is the configuration error regarding the cookie domain attribute. The Set-Cookie response utilizes DB_HOST as the value for the Domain parameter instead of an appropriate web server hostname or null value. This misconfiguration results in two distinct negative outcomes. First, it discloses internal network topology details by revealing the database host name to any client interacting with the application. Such information leakage aids attackers in mapping the infrastructure and identifying potential secondary targets within the backend environment. Second, setting a cookie domain based on an internal hostname can lead to unintended scope expansion or confusion in how browsers store and transmit cookies, potentially allowing cross-domain attacks if DNS configurations are manipulated or if multiple services share similar naming conventions.
The operational impact of these flaws is severe, primarily centering on authenticated session hijacking. If a victim user authenticates while the attacker has previously injected or influenced the PHPSESSID value through this reflection flaw, the server associates that specific identifier with the legitimate user's privileges. Consequently, the attacker can reuse this same identifier to impersonate the victim. This bypasses multi-factor authentication and other access controls because the session token itself is considered valid by the application backend. The ability to hijack authenticated sessions grants the adversary full control over the victim's account, potentially leading to unauthorized modifications of charitable records, financial data manipulation, or further lateral movement within the organization's network if integrated with other systems.
This vulnerability aligns closely with CWE-384, Session Fixation, where an attacker sets a known session ID for a user and later uses that same ID to gain access after authentication. Additionally, it relates to CWE-209, Generation of Error Message Containing Sensitive Information, due to the disclosure of internal hostnames via cookie attributes. From a tactical perspective, this behavior corresponds to ATT&CK technique T1534, Internal Spearphishing, if used in conjunction with social engineering to trick users into interacting with manipulated sessions, or more broadly under credential access and session management failures that allow persistence without detection.
Mitigation strategies must prioritize immediate patching of the WeGIA application to version 3.8.6 or later, where these flaws have been addressed by developers through improved input validation and secure configuration defaults. In environments where upgrading is not immediately feasible, administrators should implement strict output encoding for any data reflected in HTTP headers and ensure that session identifiers are generated using cryptographically secure random number generators rather than accepting client-supplied values blindly. Furthermore, the cookie domain attribute must be explicitly set to a valid public-facing hostname or left unset to prevent internal information leakage. Network segmentation can also help limit the impact of database host exposure by ensuring that backend services are not directly accessible from untrusted networks. Regular security audits focusing on session management practices and header configurations are essential to maintain resilience against similar vulnerabilities in web applications handling sensitive institutional data.