CVE-2026-14693: Multi-Vendor Grocery System Auth Bypass

CVE-2026-14693 Overview

CVE-2026-14693 is an improper authorization vulnerability [CWE-266] in SourceCodester Multi-Vendor Online Grocery Management System 1.0. The flaw resides in the cancel_order function within classes/Master.php. Authenticated remote attackers can manipulate the function to cancel orders they do not own, bypassing access control checks enforced by the application. A public exploit has been published, lowering the barrier to abuse. The vulnerability affects the integrity and availability of order data but does not expose confidential information directly.

Critical Impact
Authenticated remote attackers can invoke cancel_order to cancel orders belonging to other users, resulting in unauthorized modification of transactional data in the grocery management platform.

Affected Products

SourceCodester Multi-Vendor Online Grocery Management System 1.0
Component: classes/Master.php
Function: cancel_order

Discovery Timeline

2026-07-05 - CVE-2026-14693 published to NVD
2026-07-06 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-14693

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is categorized under [CWE-266] Incorrect Privilege Assignment, a broken access control weakness. The cancel_order function in classes/Master.php accepts a request to cancel a specific order but fails to verify that the requesting session owns the referenced order record. As a result, any authenticated user of the grocery platform can supply an arbitrary order identifier and trigger cancellation logic against another customer's transaction.

Because the platform is a multi-vendor e-commerce application, this flaw crosses tenant boundaries. A malicious buyer or vendor account can enumerate order identifiers and disrupt legitimate transactions. The exploit is reachable over the network with low privileges and no user interaction. A public proof-of-concept has been published on GitHub, increasing the likelihood of opportunistic exploitation.

Root Cause

The root cause is the absence of an ownership check inside the cancel_order handler. The function trusts the client-supplied order identifier and executes the state change without validating the authenticated user's relationship to that order. Authorization decisions rely solely on session existence rather than on per-object entitlement, a classic broken access control pattern.

Attack Vector

An attacker registers or uses an existing account on the vulnerable instance. The attacker then issues a crafted HTTP request to the endpoint that dispatches to Master.php with the cancel_order action and a target order ID. The server processes the request and updates the order state without confirming ownership. See the GitHub Issue Report and the VulDB Vulnerability Details for technical description of the request pattern.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-14693

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected order status transitions to "cancelled" without corresponding user-initiated activity in application logs.
Repeated POST requests to the Master.php endpoint with the cancel_order action from a single session against many distinct order IDs.
Customer complaints reporting cancelled orders they did not initiate.

Detection Strategies

Instrument the cancel_order handler with server-side logging that records the authenticated user_id, the target order_id, and the owning customer_id for every invocation.
Alert when the authenticated user_id does not match the order owner in application logs or web server access logs.
Baseline normal cancellation rates per account and flag accounts exceeding the baseline for review.

Monitoring Recommendations

Forward web application logs and database audit trails to a centralized analytics platform for correlation across sessions.
Monitor for enumeration patterns such as sequential or high-volume order_id parameters in requests to Master.php.
Review database changelogs for orders table status updates that lack a matching user-driven audit event.

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-14693

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict access to the Multi-Vendor Online Grocery Management System deployment behind a VPN or IP allow-list until a fix is applied.
Add a server-side ownership check to cancel_order in classes/Master.php that compares the session user_id to the customer_id on the target order before processing.
Audit the orders table for unauthorized status changes since the deployment date and restore affected records from backup.

Patch Information

At the time of publication, no official vendor patch has been referenced in NVD. Administrators should track the VulDB CVE Entry and the upstream SourceCodester Resource for updates. In the interim, apply a source-level fix by adding an authorization guard inside cancel_order that validates the caller's ownership of the order record before executing the state change.

Workarounds

Disable the client-side order cancellation feature and require cancellations to be processed manually by an administrator until a code fix is deployed.
Introduce a web application firewall (WAF) rule that blocks requests to the cancel_order action originating from accounts that have not previously interacted with the target order_id.
Rotate session tokens and enforce re-authentication for sensitive order actions to limit the impact of stolen or shared credentials.

bash

# Example authorization guard to add inside cancel_order (PHP)
# Replace direct cancellation logic with an ownership check
# if ($order->customer_id !== $_SESSION['user_id']) { http_response_code(403); exit; }