CVE-2026-2009: Gas Agency Management System Auth Bypass

CVE-2026-2009 Overview

A critical improper access control vulnerability has been discovered in SourceCodester Gas Agency Management System version 1.0. This flaw affects the file /gasmark/php_action/createUser.php, where insufficient access controls allow unauthorized manipulation of user creation functionality. The vulnerability can be exploited remotely without requiring complex attack conditions, making it a significant risk for organizations using this software.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit improper access controls in the user creation endpoint to potentially create unauthorized accounts or manipulate user data, compromising system integrity and confidentiality.

Affected Products

• Mayurik Gas Agency Management System version 1.0
• SourceCodester Gas Agency Management System 1.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-02-06 - CVE-2026-2009 published to NVD
• 2026-02-10 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-2009

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in the createUser.php file within the Gas Agency Management System's PHP action directory. This endpoint appears to lack proper authentication and authorization checks, allowing remote attackers to access user creation functionality without appropriate privileges.

The issue falls under CWE-266 (Incorrect Privilege Assignment), indicating that the application fails to properly validate whether a requesting user has sufficient privileges to perform user creation operations. This type of broken access control vulnerability can allow attackers to bypass intended security restrictions and perform administrative actions.

The attack can be launched remotely over the network with low complexity, requiring only low-privilege access to the application. The exploitation does not require user interaction, making it suitable for automated attacks. A proof-of-concept exploit has been published and is publicly available, increasing the risk of widespread exploitation.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is improper implementation of access control mechanisms in the createUser.php endpoint. The application fails to verify that the requesting user possesses administrative privileges before processing user creation requests. This likely stems from missing authentication checks or inadequate authorization validation within the PHP code handling user management operations.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-based and can be performed remotely against vulnerable installations of the Gas Agency Management System. An attacker with low-level privileges can directly access the /gasmark/php_action/createUser.php endpoint and submit requests to create new user accounts or modify existing user data.

The exploitation mechanism involves crafting HTTP requests to the vulnerable endpoint. Since proper access controls are not enforced, the server processes these requests regardless of whether the requester has legitimate administrative authority. For detailed technical information about the exploitation technique, refer to the GitHub PoC Repository.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-2009

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected HTTP requests to /gasmark/php_action/createUser.php from unauthorized IP addresses or user sessions
• Newly created user accounts in the Gas Agency Management System that were not created through normal administrative processes
• Anomalous access patterns to user management endpoints from non-administrative users
• Web server logs showing successful POST requests to createUser.php without corresponding authenticated admin sessions

Detection Strategies

• Monitor web server access logs for requests to /gasmark/php_action/createUser.php and correlate with authenticated administrative sessions
• Implement application-level logging to track user creation events and alert on creations from non-admin sessions
• Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block unauthorized access attempts to administrative endpoints
• Use SentinelOne's Singularity platform to detect suspicious web application behavior and unauthorized endpoint access

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed access logging for all PHP action endpoints in the Gas Agency Management System
• Configure alerting for any new user account creation events and validate against authorized administrator activity
• Regularly audit user accounts in the system to identify unauthorized or suspicious entries
• Monitor network traffic for unusual patterns targeting the application's administrative functions

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-2009

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict network access to the Gas Agency Management System to trusted IP addresses only until a patch is available
• Implement additional authentication checks at the web server level (e.g., HTTP Basic Auth) for administrative endpoints
• Review and audit all user accounts in the system for unauthorized entries
• Consider taking the application offline if it handles sensitive data and cannot be adequately protected

Patch Information

As of the last update on 2026-02-10, no official vendor patch has been released for this vulnerability. Organizations should monitor the SourceCodester website for security updates. Given that this is an open-source project from SourceCodester, users may need to implement manual code fixes or consider alternative solutions.

For additional vulnerability details and community resources, refer to the VulDB entry #344591.

Workarounds

• Implement server-side access controls using .htaccess or equivalent web server configuration to restrict access to createUser.php
• Add PHP-level authentication checks by modifying the vulnerable file to verify admin session status before processing requests
• Deploy a reverse proxy with authentication requirements for administrative endpoints
• Use network segmentation to isolate the Gas Agency Management System from untrusted networks

# Apache .htaccess workaround to restrict access to createUser.php
<Files "createUser.php">
    Order Deny,Allow
    Deny from all
    Allow from 127.0.0.1
    Allow from 192.168.1.0/24
    AuthType Basic
    AuthName "Admin Access Required"
    AuthUserFile /path/to/.htpasswd
    Require valid-user
</Files>