CVE-2025-59040: Tuleap Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2025-59040 Overview

CVE-2025-59040 is an information disclosure vulnerability in Tuleap, an open source suite for software development management and collaboration. The flaw exists in the backlog item representation logic, which fails to verify permissions on child trackers. Authenticated users can view tracker names they should not have access to under the project's permission model. The issue is categorized under CWE-280 (Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges). Fixes are available in Tuleap Community Edition 16.11.99.1757427600 and Tuleap Enterprise Edition 16.11-6 and 16.10-8.

Critical Impact
Authenticated users can enumerate tracker names from restricted child trackers through backlog item representations, exposing project metadata that should remain confidential.

Affected Products

Tuleap Community Edition prior to 16.11.99.1757427600
Tuleap Enterprise Edition prior to 16.11-6
Tuleap Enterprise Edition prior to 16.10-8

Discovery Timeline

2025-09-18 - CVE-2025-59040 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-59040

Vulnerability Analysis

Tuleap exposes backlog item representations through its API and web interface to help teams plan and track work across parent and child trackers. When constructing these representations, the code returns child tracker information without applying the same access control checks used elsewhere in the platform. An authenticated user querying a backlog can observe tracker names belonging to trackers they lack read permission on. The disclosure is limited to metadata rather than tracker contents, but tracker names often reveal project structure, internal initiatives, or sensitive workflow details. The vulnerability requires low-privilege authenticated access and no user interaction, and it can be triggered over the network against any Tuleap instance running an affected build.

Root Cause

The root cause is a missing permission check in the code path that assembles backlog item representations. The representation layer resolves child trackers linked to a backlog item and includes their identifying attributes in the response. Because the permission verification performed for direct tracker access is not applied when trackers are referenced indirectly through a backlog relationship, the visibility boundary is bypassed. This aligns with CWE-280, where insufficient handling of privileges leads to information exposure.

Attack Vector

An authenticated user with access to a project's backlog issues a standard API or UI request to retrieve backlog items. The response includes names of child trackers regardless of whether the requester has been granted read permission on those trackers. No specialized tooling is required, and the request pattern mirrors legitimate backlog browsing.

Technical details of the fix are available in the GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-67xc-39v9-pffg and the upstream commit 92e4aa2d.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-59040

Indicators of Compromise

Unusual volume of authenticated API calls to backlog item endpoints from a single account
API responses containing tracker names that the requesting user's role should not expose
Access patterns from accounts that browse backlog data across many projects in rapid succession

Detection Strategies

Review Tuleap application logs for repeated queries against backlog item representation endpoints by low-privilege users
Correlate user role assignments with the tracker identifiers returned in API responses to flag mismatches
Compare returned tracker metadata against the permission matrix to identify accounts receiving unauthorized data

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable verbose access logging on Tuleap REST API endpoints related to backlogs and trackers
Forward Tuleap logs to a centralized log platform for retention and correlation with identity events
Alert on privilege boundary anomalies where users access metadata inconsistent with their group membership

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-59040

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade Tuleap Community Edition to version 16.11.99.1757427600 or later
Upgrade Tuleap Enterprise Edition to 16.11-6 or 16.10-8 depending on the deployed release track
Audit recent backlog and tracker access logs to identify accounts that may have observed restricted tracker names
Review project membership and tracker permissions to confirm least-privilege assignments after patching

Patch Information

The upstream fix is delivered in the commit referenced at GitHub commit 92e4aa2d and the Tuleap stable branch reference. Details of the tracker issue are documented in Tuleap tracker aid 44489. Administrators should apply the patched packages provided by Enalean for their edition.

Workarounds

Restrict backlog access to trusted users until the patched version is deployed
Temporarily remove sensitive child trackers from backlog associations if immediate patching is not possible
Rename trackers that expose sensitive project information so leaked metadata carries less operational value

bash

# Configuration example
# Verify the installed Tuleap version before and after upgrade
rpm -q tuleap        # RHEL-based deployments
dpkg -l | grep tuleap  # Debian-based deployments