CVE-2026-90544 in AVideo
Summary
by MITRE • 09/12/2026
WWBN AVideo through commit c3edcc274c389816d434acadac07ee78eaf330c1 fails to validate video access permissions in the videoAddViewCount.json.php endpoint before updating view statistics. Authenticated attackers can increment view counts and watch-time on videos they cannot access by submitting requests with arbitrary video IDs.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/12/2026
The vulnerability identified in WWBN AVideo, specifically within the videoAddViewCount.json.php endpoint, represents a critical failure in server-side authorization logic that allows authenticated users to manipulate engagement metrics for content they do not possess permission to view. This flaw stems from an insufficient validation mechanism where the application processes requests to increment view counts and update watch-time statistics without first verifying whether the requesting user has legitimate access rights to the specific video resource identified by the provided ID. In a properly secured system, any operation that modifies state or records activity related to a protected asset must be preceded by a rigorous check of the requester's permissions against an Access Control List or similar security policy. The absence of this gatekeeping step means that the application blindly trusts the client-supplied video identifier and proceeds with updating database records for view counts regardless of whether the user is authorized to watch that particular piece of media.
From a technical perspective, this issue classifies as a Broken Access Control vulnerability, aligning directly with CWE-284 in the Common Weakness Enumeration taxonomy. The core defect lies in the application's logic flow within the videoAddViewCount.json.php script, which accepts arbitrary identifiers and performs write operations on view statistics without cross-referencing them against user session data or permission scopes. This lack of object-level access control enables an attacker who has valid authentication credentials to target any video ID known to exist within the system. By submitting crafted HTTP requests with these IDs, the attacker can artificially inflate the view count and accumulated watch time for videos they are explicitly denied access to through normal interface interactions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple metric manipulation. While it may appear as a minor integrity issue at first glance, the ability to increment view counts undetected undermines the reliability of analytics data used by content creators and platform administrators to gauge audience engagement and performance. Furthermore, such behavior can be exploited for malicious purposes including click fraud, where attackers artificially boost visibility or popularity metrics for specific videos to manipulate recommendation algorithms or advertising revenue models. In more severe scenarios, if these view counts are tied to monetization thresholds or public leaderboards, the integrity of financial transactions and competitive standings on the platform is compromised. The vulnerability also indicates a broader pattern of insecure direct object references that could potentially be leveraged in conjunction with other flaws to escalate privileges or exfiltrate data if similar patterns exist elsewhere in the application logic.
Mitigation strategies must focus on implementing robust server-side authorization checks before processing any state-changing requests related to video metrics. Developers should modify the videoAddViewCount.json.php endpoint to retrieve the current user's identity and permissions from their session context, then verify that this user has explicit read or view access rights for the specific video ID provided in the request payload. If the permission check fails, the server must reject the request with an appropriate error code rather than silently ignoring it or proceeding with the update. Additionally, implementing rate limiting on this endpoint can help mitigate abuse by preventing rapid-fire requests that attempt to skew statistics significantly over short periods. Regular security audits and static analysis tools configured to detect missing access control checks in API endpoints are recommended to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being introduced during future development cycles.