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Kimai EUVDEUVD-2026-66221

| CVE-2026-80199 MEDIUM
Observable Timing Discrepancy (CWE-208)
2026-08-25 VulnCheck GHSA-p6f7-72pm-r6j9
6.3
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: VulnCheck
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Send X-AUTH-USER probe to /api/users/me
  2. Delivery
    Measure argon2id-induced latency (~25 ms delta vs baseline)
  3. Exploit
    Repeat statistically across username wordlist
  4. Execution
    Identify valid usernames above threshold
  5. Impact
    Launch targeted credential-spray against Kimai login

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V6 - Authentication Timing attack prevention
Exploitation Conditions

The attack requires network access to the Kimai API (/api/* endpoints) and the presence of Kimai 2.x with legacy X-AUTH-USER / X-AUTH-TOKEN header authentication enabled - which is the default configuration in the 2.x series. No authentication, API token, or session cookie is required. The attack is limited by: (1) AC:H - timing reliability degrades under high network jitter or server load, requiring statistical sampling to achieve confidence; (2) the absence of login throttling is a prerequisite for unbounded probing - instances behind a WAF or reverse proxy that enforces rate limits will have their timing signal corrupted or blocked; (3) impact is strictly limited to username enumeration, with no direct path to authentication bypass or data access from this vulnerability alone.

Impact

The CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L) correctly characterizes this as a network-reachable, no-privilege-required flaw with low confidentiality impact - the score of 6.3 is appropriate. AC:H and AT:P reflect the real-world complexity of reliable timing measurement: network jitter and server load variation require statistical sampling (the PoC uses 15 probes per candidate and a configurable threshold), meaning the attack is slower and noisier than typical enumeration bugs but well within reach of a patient attacker. There is no EPSS score available in the provided data, and the vulnerability is not listed in CISA KEV, indicating no confirmed widespread exploitation. However, the publicly available PoC materially lowers the barrier. The primary real-world risk is that successful username enumeration feeds targeted password-spray or credential-stuffing campaigns against Kimai instances, which may store sensitive time-tracking and client billing data. Impact is bounded to information disclosure (no integrity or availability consequence), but the absence of throttling is a compounding factor on instances facing the internet.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An unauthenticated attacker with network access to a Kimai instance sends repeated requests to /api/users/me with candidate usernames in the X-AUTH-USER header and a dummy X-AUTH-TOKEN, measuring median response latency across 15 or more probes per candidate. Usernames that consistently return responses ~25ms slower than a known-invalid baseline are flagged as valid accounts. The attacker then uses the harvested username list to launch targeted password-spray attacks against the Kimai login endpoint; a working Python PoC automating this entire flow is included in the GitHub Security Advisory.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Aug 26, 2026

Timing oracle in Kimai's TokenAuthenticator (all 2.x versions before 2.54.0) allows unauthenticated network attackers to enumerate valid usernames by measuring a consistent ~25ms response time differential - argon2id password hashing executes only when a matched user record exists, leaking username validity despite identical HTTP 403 response bodies. No authentication, API token, or session cookie is required to exploit this flaw against default Kimai deployments. A fully functional proof-of-concept Python script is publicly available in the GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-jrc6-fmhw-fpq2), making this a low-barrier reconnaissance primitive for follow-on credential attacks; no confirmed active exploitation (CISA KEV) has been recorded at time of analysis.

RemediationAI

Upgrade Kimai to version 2.54.0 or later - this is the vendor-released patch confirmed in both the GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-jrc6-fmhw-fpq2) and the Composer package metadata. For Composer-managed deployments, run composer update kimai/kimai and verify the installed version is 2.54.0 or higher. If immediate upgrade is not possible, the most effective compensating control is to configure Symfony's login_throttling on the /api/* firewall to rate-limit authentication attempts, which limits the attacker's ability to collect sufficient timing samples - though this does not eliminate the underlying timing discrepancy. Additionally, placing a reverse proxy with request-rate limiting (e.g., nginx limit_req) in front of the /api/* endpoint will further degrade timing precision by introducing jitter. Disabling the legacy X-AUTH-USER / X-AUTH-TOKEN header authentication mechanism, if your deployment does not rely on it, eliminates the specific attack surface entirely. The trade-off of the proxy/throttling mitigations is added latency for legitimate API consumers; disabling legacy headers may break integrations using those headers.

Affected VersionsENISA

kimai 0 <2.54.0

Affected Packages

composer kimai/kimai fix: 2.54.0
euvd kimai fix: 2.54.0

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 2 packages in composer, euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The vulnerability resides in src/API/Authentication/TokenAuthenticator.php, where loadUserByIdentifier() is invoked before the password hasher. When a username does not exist, the argon2id hash computation is skipped entirely, returning approximately 25ms faster than for valid usernames - a classic CWE-208 (Observable Timing Discrepancy) pattern. The affected CPE is cpe:2.3:a:kimai:kimai:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* covering all Kimai versions up to and including 2.53.0. The legacy X-AUTH-USER and X-AUTH-TOKEN HTTP headers, still accepted by default in the 2.x series, are the attack surface; the /api/* Symfony firewall has no login_throttling configured, leaving the timing probe entirely unbounded in rate or attempt count.

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Severity by source

Vendor (VulnCheck) PRIMARY 6.3 MEDIUM
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
vuln.today AI 3.7 LOW

Network-reachable, no privileges needed; AC:H reflects timing-attack noise requiring statistical sampling; impact is solely low confidentiality (username enumeration only).

3.1 AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
4.0 AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).

CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
High
Attack Requirements
Present
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Vulnerable system: Confidentiality
Low
Vulnerable system: Integrity
None
Vulnerable system: Availability
None
Subsequent system: Confidentiality
None
Subsequent system: Integrity
None
Subsequent system: Availability
None

DescriptionCVE.org

Kimai before 2.54.0 contains a timing oracle vulnerability in TokenAuthenticator that allows unauthenticated attackers to enumerate valid usernames via X-AUTH-USER header. Attackers can measure response time differences when the password hasher runs only for existing users, enabling username enumeration with no login throttling protection.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 84% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
popular open-source time tracking app, widely used by SMBs and freelancers
Social Media
1
Sightings
Data Quality
6 sources
Confidence: High

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.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation
Poc
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

32
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +32
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

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