Kimai CVE-2026-52819
MEDIUMSeverity by source
Network API requires ROLE_TEAMLEAD authentication (PR:L, AC:L); full disclosure of financial rate and PII data warrants C:H with no integrity or availability impact.
Estimated by vuln.today — no official severity rating has been published for this CVE yet.
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
Summary
GET /api/timesheets?user=<id> (and users[]=<id>) returns the targeted user's timesheet records to any caller that has the view_other_timesheet permission, without verifying that the caller is teamlead of any team containing the target user. The per-record endpoint GET /api/timesheets/{id} correctly enforces this check via TimesheetVoter/RolePermissionManager::checkTeamAccessTimesheet → checkTeamLeadAccess, but the list endpoint only filters projects/customers by team membership and never validates t.user. A ROLE_TEAMLEAD user can therefore enumerate any user's records - including the rate field - as long as those records are on a project with no team scoping (Kimai's default) or on any project that shares any team (membership, not lead) with the requester.
Details
Root cause: authorization mismatch between the per-record voter and the list endpoint.
Per-record path (correct)
src/Voter/TimesheetVoter.php:138:
if (!$this->permissionManager->checkTeamAccessTimesheet($subject, $user)) {
return false;
}
return $this->permissionManager->hasRolePermission($user, $permission . '_other_timesheet');checkTeamLeadAccess (RolePermissionManager.php:143-160) requires isTeamleadOf (not just member) one of the target user's teams. The unit test testTeamleadDeniedWhenOnlyPlainMemberOfOwnerTeam (tests/Voter/TimesheetVoterTest.php:253-269) codifies this:
> *"a TEAMLEAD role with view_other_timesheet must not access another user's timesheet by being a plain team member - they must be the team's teamlead."*
List path (vulnerable)
src/API/TimesheetController.php:97-119:
public function cgetAction(ParamFetcherInterface $paramFetcher, ..., UserRepository $userRepository): Response
{
$query = new TimesheetQuery(false);
$this->prepareQuery($query, $paramFetcher);
$seeAll = false;
if ($this->isGranted('view_other_timesheet')) {
/** @var array<int> $users */
$users = $paramFetcher->get('users');
$userId = $paramFetcher->get('user');
if ('all' === $userId) {
$seeAll = true;
} elseif (\is_string($userId) && $userId !== '') {
$users[] = (int) $userId;
}
if (!$seeAll) {
foreach ($userRepository->findByIds($users) as $user) {
$query->addUser($user); // <-- no teamlead-of-target check
}
}
}
...config/packages/kimai.yaml:96,115 grants TIMESHEET_OTHER (which contains view_other_timesheet) to ROLE_TEAMLEAD, so the gate at line 103 passes for any teamlead. The user= / users[]= IDs are pushed straight into the query.
Net effect
For any victim bob who:
- has at least one team that the requester
aliceis not teamlead of (so the voter denies per-record access), AND - has timesheets either on a project with no team (Kimai's default), or on a project that shares any team with
alice(membership, not lead)
alice is denied via GET /api/timesheets/{id} but receives bob's records via GET /api/timesheets?user=<bob_id>.
Disclosed fields in the collection response include description, begin, end, duration, billable, exported, tags, rate, internalRate, plus project/activity/user IDs (Default/Collection serializer groups, Timesheet.php:164-173). rate is financial data that the per-record voter is supposed to gate via the separate view_rate_other_timesheet permission.
Why other proposed mitigations don't apply
- The
view_other_timesheetIsGrantedon the route is the only authorization layer in the list path; ROLE_TEAMLEAD has it globally. prepareQueryonly setscurrentUser, not authorization (BaseApiController.php:68-71).- The serializer does not filter
rateper caller - it is a staticDefault-group property. - Recent commit 20c7b03 "Re-usable ACL checks on teams" hardened the voter side but left the list endpoint unchanged.
*A PoC was provided, but removed for security reasons.*
Impact
- Authorization bypass: a
ROLE_TEAMLEAD(a non-admin role typically granted to multiple users in a Kimai instance) can read any other user's timesheet records - Financial data disclosure: the
rateandinternalRatefields are returned in the collection serializer group, leaking what gets billed/costed against any user's records. - PII / activity disclosure: per-entry
description,begin,end,duration,billable,exported, project/activity/customer IDs, and tags are leaked, allowing reconstruction of any user's activity timeline.
Solution
The list of requested user TimesheetController::cgetAction() is now guarded with the access_user permission. The access_user permission verifies that the requesting user is allowed to see each of the requested user. If any of the requested users may not be seen, the entire call will fail.
Find out more at https://www.kimai.org/en/security/ghsa-4m8q-55qv-9pwp
AnalysisAI
{id} correctly enforces teamlead validation through TimesheetVoter, but the collection endpoint GET /api/timesheets?user=<id> omits this check entirely, creating an inconsistent authorization model (CWE-863) that allows horizontal privilege escalation within the application. A private proof-of-concept was confirmed during responsible disclosure but has not been made public; the vendor-released fix is Kimai 2.57.0.
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Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata
Vulnerability AssessmentAI
| Exploitation | Exploitation requires the attacker to hold an active ROLE_TEAMLEAD account on the target Kimai instance - a low-privilege non-admin role typically granted to line managers. … Additional conditions and limiting factors are described in the full assessment. |
| Risk Assessment | No vendor-provided CVSS score or EPSS data is available for this CVE; risk metrics are based on manual assessment of the vulnerability mechanics. … Full risk analysis with EPSS, KEV, and SSVC signal comparison available after sign-in. |
| Exploit Scenario | An authenticated Kimai user `alice` holding ROLE_TEAMLEAD authenticates to the API and issues `GET /api/timesheets?user=<bob_id>` using bob's numeric user ID (enumerable via the Kimai user list API). Because alice's role carries `view_other_timesheet` globally, the list endpoint returns bob's full timesheet collection - including description text, timestamps, and rate/internalRate financial fields - without verifying that alice is teamlead of any of bob's teams. … |
| Remediation | Upgrade to Kimai 2.57.0, which adds an `access_user` permission check inside `TimesheetController::cgetAction()` that validates whether the requesting user is authorized to view each requested user's records; if any requested user fails this check, the entire API call is rejected. … Detailed patch versions, workarounds, and compensating controls in full report. |
Threat intelligence, references, and detailed analysis are available after sign-in.
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Same weakness CWE-863 – Incorrect Authorization
View allSame technique Authentication Bypass
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External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today
GHSA-4m8q-55qv-9pwp