CVE-2026-14953 Overview
CVE-2026-14953 is a medium-severity information disclosure vulnerability that allows a low-privileged remote attacker to enumerate all configured user accounts through the /api/user/fetch-all.php endpoint. The response also reveals which accounts hold elevated privileges. The weakness is classified under CWE-425: Direct Request ('Forced Browsing'), where an application fails to enforce proper authorization checks on a sensitive endpoint. An authenticated attacker with minimal privileges can query the endpoint directly and obtain a full user roster suitable for targeted follow-on attacks against administrative accounts.
Critical Impact
Attackers gain a complete list of user accounts and can single out privileged administrators, enabling targeted credential attacks and social engineering.
Affected Products
The affected product is identified in the CERT@VDE Security Advisory VDE-2026-078. Product-level CPE data was not published in the NVD entry at the time of writing.
Discovery Timeline
- 2026-08-20 - CVE-2026-14953 published to NVD
- 2026-08-20 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2026-14953
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability exists in the /api/user/fetch-all.php HTTP endpoint. The endpoint returns the full list of configured users, including a role or privilege indicator for each account. Authorization on the endpoint is insufficient: any authenticated user, regardless of role, can invoke it and receive the same enriched user directory that should be restricted to administrators.
An attacker leveraging this weakness gains reconnaissance value that materially improves the success rate of follow-on attacks. Knowing the exact usernames of privileged accounts allows focused password spraying, credential stuffing, and phishing against the highest-value identities. The flaw does not directly modify data or grant code execution, which is reflected in its confidentiality-only impact.
Root Cause
The root cause is a missing or insufficient authorization check on the /api/user/fetch-all.php handler. The endpoint enforces authentication but not role-based access control. This pattern maps to CWE-425, where a resource intended for a restricted audience is reachable by any client that can request the URL.
Attack Vector
The attack is network-based and requires low privileges with no user interaction. An attacker who holds any valid low-privileged account authenticates to the application and issues an HTTP request to /api/user/fetch-all.php. The server returns the JSON or PHP response containing every configured user and their role. No specialized tooling is required; a browser session or curl request is sufficient.
Refer to the CERT@VDE advisory VDE-2026-078 for vendor-specific technical details.
Detection Methods for CVE-2026-14953
Indicators of Compromise
- HTTP requests to /api/user/fetch-all.php originating from non-administrative session cookies or API tokens.
- Repeated calls to the endpoint from a single low-privileged account, particularly followed by authentication attempts against user accounts named in the response.
- Unusual data volume returned to a low-privileged session compared to that user's normal activity baseline.
Detection Strategies
- Correlate web server access logs with application role data to flag any access to /api/user/fetch-all.php by non-administrative accounts.
- Alert when the same source IP or session enumerates the user endpoint and then performs authentication attempts against multiple listed usernames.
- Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) rule that logs and inspects requests to sensitive /api/user/* paths.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Ingest application and web server logs into a centralized analytics platform and retain them long enough to detect slow enumeration.
- Baseline normal per-role API usage and alert on deviations, especially for endpoints returning user directories.
- Monitor authentication telemetry for spikes in failed logins against administrator accounts shortly after user-listing endpoints are accessed.
How to Mitigate CVE-2026-14953
Immediate Actions Required
- Restrict network access to the affected application to trusted management networks until a patch is applied.
- Review the vendor guidance in CERT@VDE Security Advisory VDE-2026-078 and identify affected deployments.
- Rotate credentials for privileged accounts if logs indicate the endpoint was accessed by non-administrative users.
Patch Information
Consult the CERT@VDE Security Advisory VDE-2026-078 for the vendor's remediation status and fixed versions. Apply the vendor-supplied update as soon as it is available for the affected product.
Workarounds
- Block external access to the /api/user/fetch-all.php endpoint at a reverse proxy or WAF, allowing only administrative source addresses.
- Enforce least-privilege access by removing unnecessary application accounts and disabling default or shared low-privileged credentials.
- Enable multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts to reduce the value of enumerated usernames to an attacker.
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
