CVE-2026-25810: Placipy Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2026-25810 Overview

CVE-2026-25810 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability affecting PlaciPy, a placement management system designed for educational institutions. The vulnerability exists in version 1.0.0 where the backend/src/routes/student.submission.routes.ts file verifies authentication but fails to enforce object-level authorization (ownership checks). This allows authenticated users to potentially access or modify submission data belonging to other users.

Critical Impact

Authenticated users can bypass object-level authorization controls to access or manipulate other students' submission data, potentially compromising the integrity of the placement management system.

Affected Products

• Prasklatechnology PlaciPy version 1.0.0
• PlaciPy educational placement management system deployments using affected version

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-02-09 - CVE CVE-2026-25810 published to NVD
• 2026-02-11 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-25810

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability represents a classic Broken Object Level Authorization (BOLA) flaw, classified under CWE-862 (Missing Authorization). The affected component in PlaciPy properly implements authentication mechanisms to verify that requests come from legitimate users. However, the implementation fails at the critical next step—verifying that the authenticated user has the right to access or modify the specific resource they are requesting.

In the context of an educational placement management system, this vulnerability is particularly concerning as it could allow students to view or tamper with other students' placement submissions, assessment results, or application materials.

Root Cause

The root cause lies in the student.submission.routes.ts file within the backend source code. While the route handlers validate that a user is authenticated (logged in), they do not implement ownership verification checks. This means that after authentication succeeds, any authenticated user can potentially interact with submission objects belonging to other users by manipulating request parameters such as submission IDs or student identifiers.

This is a common pattern in web applications where developers assume authentication alone provides sufficient security, overlooking the need for granular authorization checks at the object level.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based, requiring the attacker to be an authenticated user of the PlaciPy system. The exploitation flow involves:

1. An attacker authenticates to the PlaciPy application with valid credentials
2. The attacker identifies API endpoints related to student submissions
3. By modifying resource identifiers (such as submission IDs) in API requests, the attacker can access submissions belonging to other students
4. Depending on the specific endpoints affected, this could allow reading sensitive submission data, modifying other users' submissions, or potentially deleting records

The vulnerability does not require any special privileges beyond basic authenticated access, making it exploitable by any registered user of the system.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-25810

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual patterns of API requests to submission endpoints with varying resource IDs from a single user session
• Access logs showing a user retrieving or modifying submissions that do not belong to their account
• Anomalous activity patterns where users access far more submission records than expected for normal usage

Detection Strategies

• Implement API request logging that captures the authenticated user ID alongside the requested resource ID for correlation analysis
• Deploy web application firewalls (WAF) with rules to detect enumeration attempts on submission endpoints
• Enable audit logging on submission data access to track which users access which records
• Monitor for sequential or brute-force patterns in submission ID parameters

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure alerts for users accessing submissions outside their normal scope
• Set up dashboards to visualize submission access patterns across user accounts
• Implement rate limiting on submission-related API endpoints to slow enumeration attempts
• Review application logs regularly for signs of unauthorized data access attempts

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-25810

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade PlaciPy to a patched version when available from Praskla Technology
• Review the GitHub Security Advisory for vendor-specific guidance
• Audit existing submission data for signs of unauthorized access or modification
• Implement network-level access controls to limit exposure of the application

Patch Information

Administrators should monitor the official Praskla Technology GitHub repository and the security advisory for patch releases. Version 1.0.0 is confirmed vulnerable. Apply vendor patches as soon as they become available.

Workarounds

• Implement additional authorization middleware that verifies the requesting user owns the submission before processing requests
• Add ownership validation logic in route handlers by comparing the authenticated user's ID against the submission's owner field
• Consider deploying an API gateway with custom authorization policies to enforce object-level access control
• Restrict access to the application to trusted networks until a patch is applied