Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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ReconObtain low-privilege CamaleonCMS account
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DeliveryIdentify target admin user ID
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ExploitCraft PATCH request with attacker ID in query string and victim ID in URL path
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InstallAuthorization filter validates attacker's own ID
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C2Action body loads and mutates admin's record
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ExecuteOverwrite admin password
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ImpactAuthenticate as site administrator
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Object-level authorization, IDOR prevention
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| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires a valid authenticated session for any low-privileged CamaleonCMS user account - the attacker must be able to log in to the admin panel at /admin. No special configuration, non-default feature, or specific platform version beyond CamaleonCMS 2.9.2 or earlier is required; the updated_ajax endpoint is present and reachable in all affected versions by default. The parameter confusion is triggered by supplying the attacker's own user ID as the query-string id parameter while placing the victim's user ID in the URL path segment (routed to params[:user_id]), both of which are accessible in a single PATCH request. Exploitation is strictly limited to users who hold a valid site account; unauthenticated visitors cannot reach the admin panel endpoints and cannot exploit this flaw. |
| Impact | The CVSS 4.0 score of 8.7 (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H) accurately represents the threat: network-exploitable with low complexity, requiring only a valid low-privileged account and no user interaction. The highest-impact path - overwriting an administrator password - requires no non-default configuration, no special feature flag, and no environmental precondition beyond possessing any site account. The attack mechanism is mechanically simple and fully documented by the PR's test suite, which provides a working proof-of-concept at the code level; however, no standalone public exploit tool has been identified and this CVE is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog, so real-world exploitation frequency is unknown. No EPSS data was provided, precluding probabilistic comparison. The practical risk is elevated beyond the CVSS score alone suggests because the attack is low-friction and the impact is immediate full administrative control. Defenders should not deprioritize this on the basis of no confirmed in-the-wild activity given the trivial exploitation path. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A low-privileged registered user on a CamaleonCMS site issues a crafted PATCH request to /admin/users/{admin_victim_id}/updated_ajax?id={attacker_own_id} with a new password in the request body. The authorization filter reads params[:id] (the attacker's own ID) and passes the self-edit check, while the action body loads the admin account from the URL path segment, overwriting the administrator's password. The attacker then authenticates to the admin panel with the new credentials and holds full administrative control of the site. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Aug 11, 2026
Privilege escalation in CamaleonCMS 2.9.2 and earlier allows any authenticated low-privileged user to overwrite administrator passwords and achieve full site takeover via a parameter confusion flaw in the UsersController's updated_ajax endpoint. The authorization filter and the action body each resolve the target user from a different parameter key, enabling an attacker to pass their own ID to satisfy the self-authorization check while simultaneously directing the mutation at any victim account. No public exploit tool has been identified at time of analysis, but the upstream fix commit is available on GitHub (PR #1185, commit 2634503), with a formally tagged patched release not yet independently confirmed.
RemediationAI
Apply the upstream fix from commit 26345034523a505cb01615509b7f0a665e89ae3e (https://github.com/owen2345/camaleon-cms/commit/26345034523a505cb01615509b7f0a665e89ae3e), which patches Admin::UsersController by unifying user resolution through a single canonical helper in both the authorization filter and the action body. A formally tagged patched gem release has not been independently confirmed - verify the current gem version at https://github.com/owen2345/camaleon-cms before deploying. As a compensating control until the patch is applied, restrict the /admin route prefix to trusted IP ranges at the reverse-proxy or network layer (e.g., nginx allow/deny directives), which reduces the attack surface to insider threats only; note this does not eliminate the flaw for authenticated insiders. Additionally, audit the CamaleonCMS database for unexplained recent password changes on administrator accounts as an indicator of prior exploitation. Revoking and reissuing credentials for administrator accounts is advisable if the system has been exposed to untrusted authenticated users.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
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Technical ContextAI · show details
CamaleonCMS is a Ruby on Rails content management system (CPE: cpe:2.3:a:owen2345:camaleoncms:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*). The flaw resides in the camaleon_cms engine's Admin::UsersController#updated_ajax action and is classified as CWE-639 (Authorization Through User-Controlled Key). The root cause is a split in how the authorization filter (validate_role) and the action body resolved the target user: the filter invoked a user_id_param helper that previously prioritized params[:id] over params[:user_id], while the action body called current_site.users.find(params[:user_id]) directly. Rails exposes both path segment parameters and query-string parameters through the unified params hash, making it trivial to supply two distinct values simultaneously. The fix in PR #1185 eliminates the split by routing both the authorization check and the database lookup through a single unified user_id_param helper, and reverses parameter priority to params[:user_id] || params[:id] so the URL path segment always wins. A type-safety fix was also applied to the ID comparison (coercing both sides to strings) to close a related bypass edge case.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
PR:L because a valid low-privilege account is required; S:C because a low-privilege user gains full admin control affecting all site users; A:L because the site remains operational though the victim admin account is effectively locked out.
Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck
DescriptionCVE.org
CamaleonCMS version 2.9.2 and earlier contains a privilege escalation vulnerability via insecure direct object reference (IDOR) that allows authenticated low-privileged attackers to overwrite any user's credentials by exploiting a parameter confusion flaw between the authorization filter and action body in the UsersController. Attackers can send a PATCH request to the updated_ajax endpoint setting params[:id] to their own user ID to pass the self-authorization check while simultaneously setting params[:user_id] to a victim's ID, causing the controller to load and mutate the victim's account, including overwriting administrator passwords to achieve full site takeover.
Executive ViewAI
A flaw in CamaleonCMS 2.9.2 and earlier allows any staff member with user access to seize complete control of the CMS application, potentially exposing customer data, enabling unauthorized changes to website content, and disrupting online operations. This vulnerability creates significant operational and compliance risk for organizations that rely on CamaleonCMS to manage customer-facing content or store sensitive business information. No public exploit has been identified at time of analysis, though remediation through patching is immediately available and should be prioritized within this week to prevent potential insider exploitation.
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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
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.
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EUVD-2026-56236
GHSA-m39h-f7fw-54qw
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB