CVE-2025-12082: CivicTheme Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2025-12082 Overview

CVE-2025-12082 is an Incorrect Authorization vulnerability [CWE-863] in the Drupal CivicTheme Design System contributed module. The flaw allows unauthenticated attackers to perform Forceful Browsing against affected sites, accessing resources that should require authorization. All versions of civictheme_design_system prior to 1.12.0 are affected. The vulnerability is exploitable over the network without user interaction or privileges.

Critical Impact
Remote unauthenticated attackers can bypass authorization controls in CivicTheme to reach restricted content, resulting in confidentiality loss across affected Drupal sites.

Affected Products

Drupal CivicTheme Design System versions 0.0.0 through 1.11.x
Salsa.digital civictheme_design_system contributed module
Drupal sites using CivicTheme prior to 1.12.0

Discovery Timeline

2025-10-30 - CVE-2025-12082 published to NVD
2025-10-30 - Drupal Security Advisory SA-CONTRIB-2025-112 released
2025-12-03 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-12082

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability stems from missing or improperly enforced authorization checks within the CivicTheme Design System module. Forceful Browsing occurs when an application fails to validate that a requesting user is permitted to view a given resource. Attackers can request URLs, endpoints, or component-rendered content directly and receive data intended for privileged users.

CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization) indicates the application performs an authorization check but reaches the wrong conclusion. In this case, CivicTheme components or routes do not consistently apply Drupal's access control APIs, allowing anonymous requests to retrieve protected output. The impact is limited to confidentiality, with integrity and availability unaffected.

Root Cause

The root cause is incorrect authorization logic in the CivicTheme module's request handling. Components or controllers introduced by the theme system do not invoke Drupal's permission or entity access checks before returning data. The maintainer addressed the defect in version 1.12.0 by tightening access enforcement on the affected paths.

Attack Vector

An attacker sends crafted HTTP requests to predictable URLs or component endpoints exposed by CivicTheme. No authentication, session, or user interaction is required. Successful requests return information that should be gated behind Drupal's access control system, exposing site content or metadata to unauthorized parties.

No public proof-of-concept exploit, CISA KEV listing, or in-the-wild exploitation has been reported. The current EPSS probability is 0.049%.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-12082

Indicators of Compromise

Anonymous HTTP GET requests to CivicTheme-specific routes returning 200 OK for content that requires authentication
Spikes in unauthenticated requests enumerating Drupal node IDs, taxonomy terms, or component endpoints
Access log entries showing direct retrieval of restricted entity data without a session cookie

Detection Strategies

Inventory Drupal installations and identify sites running civictheme_design_system below 1.12.0 using drush pm:list or composer manifests
Review web server access logs for unauthenticated traffic to CivicTheme component paths and compare against expected access patterns
Correlate Drupal watchdog access-denied events with successful 200 responses for the same resources to surface authorization gaps

Monitoring Recommendations

Forward Drupal access logs and web server logs to a central SIEM and alert on anonymous access to administrative or restricted content paths
Baseline normal request rates to CivicTheme endpoints and alert on volumetric anomalies indicative of forced browsing enumeration
Track outbound responses for sensitive field data returned to anonymous sessions

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-12082

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade civictheme_design_system to version 1.12.0 or later on all Drupal sites
Audit web server and Drupal logs for prior unauthenticated access to restricted CivicTheme resources
Rebuild Drupal caches with drush cache:rebuild after applying the update to ensure new access rules take effect

Patch Information

The maintainer released CivicTheme Design System 1.12.0, which corrects the authorization checks. Refer to the Drupal Security Advisory SA-CONTRIB-2025-112 for the official fix and version guidance.

Workarounds

Restrict access to CivicTheme component routes at the web server or reverse proxy layer until the module can be upgraded
Apply a Web Application Firewall rule to block anonymous requests to known CivicTheme endpoints that should require authentication
Temporarily disable CivicTheme features that expose unauthenticated routes if upgrading is not immediately feasible

bash

# Configuration example
composer require 'drupal/civictheme_design_system:^1.12.0'
drush updatedb
drush cache:rebuild