CVE-2026-25875: Placipy Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2026-25875 Overview

PlaciPy is a placement management system designed for educational institutions. In version 1.0.0, a critical authorization bypass vulnerability exists where the admin authorization middleware trusts client-controlled JWT claims (role and scope) without enforcing server-side role verification. This allows unauthenticated attackers to forge JWT tokens with elevated privileges, potentially gaining full administrative access to the placement management system.

Critical Impact

Attackers can bypass authentication and authorization controls by manipulating JWT claims, potentially gaining unauthorized administrative access to sensitive student placement data and system configuration.

Affected Products

• Prasklatechnology PlaciPy version 1.0.0

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-02-09 - CVE CVE-2026-25875 published to NVD
• 2026-02-11 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-25875

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability falls under CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization), which occurs when the software performs an authorization check incorrectly. In PlaciPy's case, the admin authorization middleware accepts JWT tokens without properly validating the authenticity of the role and scope claims on the server side. Instead of verifying user permissions against a trusted backend authority, the middleware simply trusts whatever claims are present in the JWT token submitted by the client.

The network-accessible nature of this vulnerability means any remote attacker can exploit it without requiring prior authentication or user interaction. The impact is significant, allowing unauthorized access to confidential student placement data and the ability to modify system configurations, though availability impact is not directly affected.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability lies in the improper implementation of JWT validation within the admin authorization middleware. The middleware fails to implement server-side verification of user roles and permissions. When a JWT token is received, the application extracts the role and scope claims directly from the token payload and uses these values to make authorization decisions without cross-referencing them against a trusted data source such as a user database or identity provider.

This design flaw allows attackers to craft their own JWT tokens with arbitrary role assignments (such as admin) and gain elevated privileges. The absence of signature verification or proper claim validation renders the authentication mechanism ineffective.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for CVE-2026-25875 is network-based, requiring no authentication or user interaction. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by:

1. Crafting a malicious JWT token with forged role and scope claims set to administrative values
2. Sending requests to protected administrative endpoints with the forged token
3. Bypassing all authorization checks since the middleware trusts the client-supplied claims

The vulnerability mechanism involves the middleware extracting role information directly from untrusted JWT claims. See the GitHub Security Advisory for complete technical details on the authorization bypass.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-25875

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual administrative API calls originating from unknown or untrusted IP addresses
• JWT tokens with suspicious claim patterns or timestamps inconsistent with legitimate user sessions
• Multiple failed authentication attempts followed by successful admin access from the same source
• Log entries showing administrative actions performed by users without legitimate admin accounts

Detection Strategies

• Implement logging and monitoring on all administrative endpoints to track access patterns
• Deploy web application firewalls (WAF) with rules to detect JWT manipulation attempts
• Enable anomaly detection for privilege escalation attempts within the application
• Monitor for authentication bypass patterns in network traffic analysis tools

Monitoring Recommendations

• Review access logs for administrative endpoints for unauthorized access attempts
• Set up alerts for JWT tokens with unexpected or invalid role claims
• Monitor user session patterns for anomalous privilege changes
• Implement real-time alerting on administrative configuration changes

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-25875

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade PlaciPy to a patched version when available from Prasklatechnology
• Implement network-level access controls to restrict administrative endpoint access
• Review audit logs for any signs of unauthorized administrative access
• Consider temporarily disabling external access to administrative functions until patched

Patch Information

For detailed patch information and remediation guidance, refer to the GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-mx95-8ppg-v574. Organizations should monitor the official Prasklatechnology repository for security updates addressing this vulnerability.

Workarounds

• Implement server-side role verification by validating JWT claims against the user database before granting access
• Add JWT signature verification using a secure secret key or asymmetric cryptography
• Restrict administrative endpoint access to trusted IP ranges or VPN-only access
• Deploy a reverse proxy or API gateway that enforces additional authentication checks

# Example: Restrict admin endpoint access via nginx
location /api/admin/ {
    # Restrict to internal network only
    allow 10.0.0.0/8;
    allow 192.168.0.0/16;
    deny all;
    
    # Additional rate limiting
    limit_req zone=admin_limit burst=5 nodelay;
    
    proxy_pass http://placipy_backend;
}