CVE-2026-77133 in femanager
Summary
by MITRE • 08/25/2026
The extension fails to restrict which frontend usergroups a logged-in user may assign to their own account when the profile edit plugin uses its default field configuration, allowing self-service privilege escalation into arbitrary frontend groups.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/25/2026
This vulnerability represents a critical authorization flaw within the web application's user management subsystem, specifically affecting the functionality of the profile editing extension under its default configuration settings. The core issue stems from an insufficient access control mechanism that fails to validate whether the target group assigned by a logged-in user is permissible for self-service modification. In secure systems, administrative privileges or membership in sensitive frontend groups should be restricted to authorized administrators only, requiring explicit backend validation before any changes are committed to the database. However, due to this oversight, the application accepts and processes requests where users attempt to add themselves to arbitrary frontend groups without verifying their current permission level against a whitelist of allowed group assignments. This lack of server-side enforcement allows malicious actors with valid credentials but low initial privileges to bypass intended security boundaries and elevate their own access rights arbitrarily.
From a technical perspective, the flaw is rooted in improper implementation of object-level authorization checks during the profile update process. When a user submits changes to their account details, including group memberships, the backend logic relies on default field configurations that do not enforce strict constraints on which groups can be selected or assigned by non-administrative users. The application likely trusts client-side inputs or fails to cross-reference the requested group IDs against an authoritative list of permitted assignments for the current user's role. This design error enables a classic insecure direct object reference scenario where the integrity of the relationship between user accounts and security groups is compromised. By manipulating the HTTP request parameters associated with profile updates, attackers can inject unauthorized group identifiers into the payload, effectively granting themselves elevated permissions such as administrative access or restricted content visibility that were not originally intended for their account tier.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe, as it facilitates self-service privilege escalation leading to a complete compromise of user role integrity within the frontend environment. Once an attacker successfully escalates their privileges into arbitrary groups, they gain unauthorized access to features, data, and functionalities reserved for higher-privileged users. This can result in unauthorized modification or deletion of critical content, exposure of sensitive personal information belonging to other users, and potential further exploitation through administrative interfaces that rely on these frontend group assignments for backend role mapping. In many web architectures, frontend groups are directly correlated with backend permissions; therefore, gaining access to a high-privilege group may effectively grant the attacker full control over the application's core functionalities, leading to data breaches, service disruption, and significant reputational damage for the organization hosting the platform.
To mitigate this vulnerability, developers must implement strict server-side validation logic that explicitly defines which user groups can be assigned by self-service profile edits versus those reserved exclusively for administrative intervention. This involves maintaining a secure configuration table or constant array of allowed group IDs for each user role and validating every incoming assignment request against this list before processing the update. Additionally, implementing principle of least privilege in the application's architecture ensures that default configurations do not inadvertently expose powerful capabilities to standard users. Regular security audits focusing on authorization checks and input validation are essential to prevent similar flaws. Furthermore, adopting industry-standard frameworks for access control such as Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) with explicit deny-by-default policies can significantly reduce the attack surface. Security teams should also monitor logs for unusual patterns of group assignment changes by low-privilege users to detect potential exploitation attempts in real-time. This issue aligns with CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management and is often associated with ATT&CK technique T1078 Valid Accounts, where attackers leverage legitimate credentials to escalate privileges within the target environment.