Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessLure authenticated users[] victim to link
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DeliveryVictim's browser sends GET with FUNC_UPDATE, SameSite=Lax cookie
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ExploitCSRF token check skipped (no save param)
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ExecutionUnprotected update path writes user record
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ImpactGrant admin / deactivate / lock out administrator
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V3 - Web Frontend Security Anti-CSRF tokens, SameSite cookies
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Initial Access The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires a victim who is already logged into the REDAXO backend and holds the users[] permission, and who actively opens an attacker-controlled page while that session is valid; no authentication, account, or special privilege is needed by the attacker themselves (classic CSRF). The flaw is reachable as a plain GET because parameters are read via rex_request() against $_REQUEST and the session cookie defaults to SameSite=Lax (sent on top-level GET navigation). The privilege-escalation variant (useradmin=1) specifically requires the victim to be an administrator, since the permission guard evaluates in the victim's favour; the account-deactivation and sole-administrator-lockout variants work for any users[]-permission victim as long as the target is not an administrator. Limiting factors: active user interaction is mandatory, the victim must possess the users[] permission, and passwords cannot be changed via this path because userpsw is read through rex_post() and is unreachable via GET. The only complete fix is updating to 5.21.3. |
| Impact | The CVSS 4.0 base score is 8.6 (High), driven by a network vector (AV:N), low complexity (AC:L), no attacker privileges (PR:N), and high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the vulnerable system (VC:H/VI:H/VA:H). The one metric that meaningfully constrains real-world risk is UI:A - the attack is a CSRF that requires a logged-in backend user holding the users[] permission to actively open an attacker-controlled link, so it cannot be driven autonomously against a server. No EPSS score and no KEV listing were provided in the input, so there is no quantitative exploitation-probability signal and no evidence of active exploitation; absence of these is not evidence of safety but should not be read as active-exploitation either. The vendor advisory includes a concrete crafted GET URL and raw HTTP request demonstrating the bypass, which functions as a public PoC reference (not independently verified as weaponized exploit code). The vuln.today decision label is 'this_week', which aligns with the profile: a serious, patchable flaw warranting prompt remediation within the week rather than emergency same-day action. Net assessment: this is a genuine privilege-escalation/account-takeover issue that is real and should be patched promptly, but its dependence on a privileged, interacting victim makes it targeted/social-engineering-dependent rather than a mass-exploitable worm candidate. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker with a low-privileged REDAXO backend account (or no account at all) crafts a link such as index.php?page=users/users&user_id=3&FUNC_UPDATE=1&useradmin=1&userstatus=1 and lures a logged-in administrator (or any user with the users[] permission) to open it. Because the session cookie defaults to SameSite=Lax and is sent on top-level GET navigation, and the CSRF token check is skipped when the save parameter is absent, the victim's authenticated session grants the attacker's chosen account administrator rights, deactivates a target account, or locks out the sole administrator. A public PoC reference (the crafted URL and HTTP request) is published in the vendor advisory; it is not verified as working exploit code, though the trigger is fully described. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 28, 2026
Cross-site request forgery in REDAXO's backend user administration (page=users/users) lets an attacker who merely gets a logged-in backend user to open a crafted link modify arbitrary user records - granting administrator rights, deactivating accounts, or locking out the only administrator. The vendor's advisory explains that the CSRF token check sat behind a save condition that the FUNC_UPDATE/FUNC_APPLY write path did not share, so a single GET request with FUNC_UPDATE=1 and no token reached the update logic; because parameters are read through rex_request() against $_REQUEST, and the session cookie defaults to SameSite=Lax (still sent on top-level GET navigation), no form or JavaScript is needed. The attacker needs no account or privilege of their own, but a victim must have an active REDAXO backend session and the users[] permission, and the privilege-escalation variant specifically needs that victim to be an administrator; passwords cannot be set through this path because userpsw is read via rex_post(). No public exploit code or confirmed active exploitation was identified in the supplied sources; the vendor-released fix is 5.21.3 and the priority decision is to act this week.
RemediationAI
Vendor-released patch: upgrade REDAXO core to 5.21.3 (from any version <= 5.21.2, including the composer/redaxo/source <= 5.21.2 package). The fix makes the token check unconditional for the update paths - if ($fUNCUPDATE || $fUNCAPPLY || ($fUNCADD && $save)) - which is safe because FUNC_UPDATE and FUNC_APPLY are only submitted by the edit form's buttons, while FUNC_ADD keeps its save condition because it also opens the empty create form without a token. The supplied sources state that updating to 5.21.3 is the only complete fix and document no alternative workaround; no interim mitigation, feature toggle, or configuration change is described in the advisory data. Consult https://github.com/redaxo/core/security/advisories/GHSA-mrrj-4f5x-j958 as the authoritative vendor advisory and https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/redaxo-before-5.21.3-csrf-token-bypass-via-users-users-privilege-escalation for a secondary write-up. Because exploitation requires a logged-in users[]-permission victim to open an attacker-controlled page, reducing the number of accounts holding that permission and keeping backend sessions short limits exposure while the upgrade is scheduled, but these are exposure reductions noted from the assessed prerequisites, not vendor-published fixes.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
Root cause class is CWE-352 (cross-site request forgery), chained to a CWE-269 privilege-escalation outcome in the PHP-based REDAXO core. The backend user administration handles three write paths - create, update and delete - and the CSRF token check was written as if ($save && ($fUNCADD || $fUNCUPDATE || $fUNCAPPLY)), gated on a truthy save parameter, whereas the actual write was triggered separately by '' != $fUNCUPDATE || '' != $fUNCAPPLY with no save and therefore no token validation. A request carrying FUNC_UPDATE=1 without save skipped rex_csrf_token::factory('user_edit')->isValid(), produced no warning, and fell straight into the update branch. The create path (FUNC_ADD) was unaffected because it explicitly required save, which is why the token check always ran there. Parameters are resolved via rex_request() from $_REQUEST, so GET is equivalent to POST for these fields, and the SameSite=Lax default on the REDAXO session cookie still attaches the session to a top-level GET navigation, making a bare link (e.g. index.php?page=users/users&user_id=3&FUNC_UPDATE=1&useradmin=1&userstatus=1) sufficient. The pre-existing guard 0 !== $userId && ($currentUser->isAdmin() || !$user->isAdmin()) evaluates in the victim's favour in a CSRF scenario and so does not stop the attack. Because absent parameters are written with defaults, role assignments, name and email of the target are cleared as collateral, and userstatus defaults to inactive when omitted. Passwords are out of reach because userpsw is read via rex_post().
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Attacker needs no privileges (PR:N, CSRF) over the network but requires the victim to click a link (UI:R); impact spans privilege escalation and account lockout, hence C/I/A all High.
Primary rating from Vendor (vulncheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: vulncheck
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
REDAXO before 5.21.3 contains a cross-site request forgery vulnerability in the backend user administration page (users/users) because the CSRF token check only runs when the save parameter is set, while the update path triggered by FUNC_UPDATE does not require it. Attackers can lure a logged-in backend user with the users[] permission to a crafted GET link to grant administrator rights, deactivate accounts, or lock out the sole administrator.
Technical POC Analysis
CWE-352 (Cross-Site Request Forgery), with the advisory also tagging CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management) because of the outcome.
Full technical POC analysis - root cause, step-by-step exploitation and patch breakdown - is part of the Pro and Business plans.
Executive ViewAI
A high-severity cross-site request forgery vulnerability in REDAXO's backend user administration (CVE-2026-117536) could allow an attacker to hijack administrator accounts or lock out legitimate administrators by tricking a logged-in backend user into clicking a crafted link. This puts the integrity of the entire REDAXO content management system at risk, potentially leading to full site compromise, data breaches, or denial of service for the organization's web presence.
Apply vendor patch.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Cross-Site Request Forgery exploits the automatic credential inclusion behavior of web browsers.
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Redaxo CMS Mediapool Addon 5.5.1 and older contains an arbitrary file upload vulnerability that allows authenticated use
Remote code execution in REDAXO CMS versions 5.18.2 through 5.21.0 is reachable by authenticated backend users with medi
A Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability in the template management component in REDAXO CMS 5.20.0 allows remote auth
REDAXO CMS v2.11.0 was discovered to contain a remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2)
An issue was discovered in REDAXO version 5.15.1, allows attackers to execute arbitrary code and obtain sensitive inform
Redaxo v5.15.1 was discovered to contain a remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability via the component /pages/templates.
Remote code execution in the modules component in Yakamara Media Redaxo CMS version 5.12.1 allows an authenticated CMS u
Redaxo CMS 5.2 contains a cross-site request forgery vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to create admin
Arbitrary file disclosure in REDAXO's Backup addon allows authenticated users with backup permissions to read any file w
Triggering an error page of the import process in Yakamara Media Redaxo CMS version 5.12.1 allows an authenticated CMS u
REDAXO is a PHP-based CMS. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authenticati
EUVD-2026-110801
GHSA-4rqm-5495-h9jx
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Exploit-DB