CVE-2025-60305 identifies a critical incorrect access control vulnerability in SourceCodester Online Student Clearance System 1.0. The core issue is a logic flaw that allows users with low privileges to forge sessions with elevated privileges, bypassing intended access restrictions. This vulnerability falls under CWE-284 (Improper Access Control), indicating that the system fails to enforce proper authorization checks before allowing sensitive operations. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 reflects a network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), requiring low privileges (PR:L), no user interaction (UI:N), unchanged scope (S:U), and high impacts on confidentiality (C:H), integrity (I:H), and availability (A:H). Exploiting this flaw could allow attackers to access or manipulate sensitive student clearance data, modify records, or disrupt system availability. Although no public exploits are reported, the vulnerability's nature suggests it could be weaponized to compromise educational institutions' data integrity and privacy. The absence of patch links indicates that a fix may not yet be publicly available, underscoring the urgency for affected organizations to audit and harden their access control mechanisms.

For European organizations, particularly educational institutions and administrative bodies using the SourceCodester Online Student Clearance System, this vulnerability poses a severe risk. Unauthorized privilege escalation can lead to exposure of sensitive student data, including personal identification and clearance status, violating GDPR and other privacy regulations. Integrity of student records could be compromised, affecting academic and administrative decisions. Availability impacts could disrupt clearance processes, causing operational delays. The breach of confidentiality and integrity could damage institutional reputation and result in regulatory penalties. Given the network attack vector and lack of required user interaction, attackers could exploit this vulnerability remotely, increasing the threat surface. The impact is amplified in countries with widespread adoption of this system or similar platforms, especially where digital transformation in education is advanced.

Organizations should immediately conduct a thorough review of the access control logic within the Online Student Clearance System. Specific steps include: 1) Implement strict role-based access control (RBAC) ensuring privilege levels are correctly enforced and cannot be forged. 2) Harden session management by using secure, tamper-proof session tokens and validating session integrity on every request. 3) Introduce multi-factor authentication (MFA) for administrative or high-privilege accounts to reduce risk of unauthorized access. 4) Monitor logs for unusual privilege escalation attempts or session anomalies. 5) Isolate the clearance system within secure network segments with limited access. 6) Engage with the vendor or development team to obtain or develop patches addressing the logic flaw. 7) Conduct penetration testing focused on access control bypass scenarios to validate mitigations. 8) Educate administrators and users about the risks and signs of exploitation. These targeted actions go beyond generic advice by focusing on the specific logic flaw and session forgery vectors identified.