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GHSA-cjcp-qxvg-4rjm CVE-2025-66296

Grav vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in Grav Admin: Missing Username Uniqueness Check Allows Admin Account Takeover

High Packagist
Severity
8.8 / 10
High · CVSS 3.1
Exploit chance (EPSS)
0.34%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 27.59% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited
No
Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness
CWE-266 Incorrect Privilege Assignment
Fix
1.8.0-beta.27
Upgrade getgrav/grav to this version or later

Description

Summary

A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in Grav’s Admin plugin due to the absence of username uniqueness validation when creating users. A user with the create user permission can create a new account using the same username as an existing administrator account, set a new password/email, and then log in as that administrator. This effectively allows privilege escalation from limited user-manager permissions to full administrator access.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Make sure you have two accounts: an admin and a user with create user privilege
  2. In the user account, navigate to /grav-admin/admin/accounts/users and click "Add"
  3. Enter the name of the admin, complete registration and observe that the existing admin’s email is changed to the value you provided.
  4. Log out from user account log in as admin with new credentials

Impact

  1. Full admin takeover by any user with create user permission.
  2. Ability to change admin credentials, install/remove plugins, read or modify site data, and execute any action available to an admin.
  3. Severity: High/Critical.

PoC

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3ab0a7d6-5055-41be-9e0e-2bd6ca359b37

Affected versions

Packagist

PackageVulnerableFixed in
getgrav/grav
< 1.8.0-beta.27
1.8.0-beta.27

How to fix

Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.

getgrav/grav Packagist → 1.8.0-beta.27

composer
composer require getgrav/grav:^1.8.0-beta.27

Severity breakdown

CVSS 3.1 8.8

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Weakness

CWE-266: Incorrect Privilege Assignment

A product incorrectly assigns a privilege to a particular actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.

How to prevent it
  • Architecture and Design, Operation: Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.
  • Architecture and Design, Operation: Run your code using the lowest privileges that are required to accomplish the necessary tasks [REF-76]. If possible, create isolated accounts with limited privileges that are only used for a single task. That way, a successful attack will not immediately give the attacker access to the rest of the software or its environment. For example, database applications rarely need to run as the database administrator, especially in day-to-day operations.

References

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Last updated by the source
  3. Latest EPSS score
AdvisorySeverityWhy it's related
GHSA-xjw5-q542-3vmr
Grav: config_denied_paths default list omits `system`, exposing real secrets (e.g. system.cache.redis.password) via the Twig sandbox when config_access is enabled
High Also affects getgrav/grav
GHSA-3jhr-mxmx-38cx
Grav: UserInterface offsetget/offsetexists allow-listed in Twig sandbox let editor-authored content leak hashed_password and 2FA secrets via offsetGet()
Medium Also affects getgrav/grav
GHSA-9ccq-2jfg-qw33
Grav: Origin validation bypass in Uri::referrer() and Pages::referrerRoute() via unanchored prefix match
Critical Also affects getgrav/grav
GHSA-38p6-h87p-r4cg
Grav: Non constant time nonce comparison in Utils::verifyNonce() used for CSRF protection
Medium Also affects getgrav/grav
GHSA-p597-crqc-m349
Grav: The system, site, and theme Twig variables bypass the content sandbox entirely and are never covered by config_denied_paths
Medium Also affects getgrav/grav
GHSA-47ch-6w46-6xm7
Grav: media_directory() Twig function allows filesystem path traversal and file content disclosure from sandboxed page content
Medium Also affects getgrav/grav
GHSA-jq29-c7v8-rg55
Grav: Path Traversal in MediaUploadTrait::deleteFile() Allows Arbitrary File Deletion
High Also affects getgrav/grav
GHSA-8hgv-xc77-jmcr
Grav: Page editors can inject arbitrary script into rendered pages via the Twig sandbox's assets.addJs/addCss allowlist, escalating to super-admin
Medium Also affects getgrav/grav
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