CVE-2025-68044 is an authorization bypass vulnerability categorized under CWE-639 (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key) affecting the Rustaurius Five Star Restaurant Reservations software up to version 2.7.8. The vulnerability arises from incorrectly configured access control mechanisms that rely on user-supplied keys to enforce security levels. This design flaw allows an attacker to manipulate these keys to bypass authorization checks, gaining unauthorized access to sensitive reservation data without needing any privileges or user interaction. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.6 reflects the vulnerability's high impact on confidentiality, with a vector indicating network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), no user interaction (UI:N), unchanged scope (S:U), high confidentiality impact (C:H), low integrity impact (I:L), and low availability impact (A:L). Although no public exploits have been reported, the ease of exploitation and the critical nature of the data involved make this a significant threat. The vulnerability affects all versions up to 2.7.8, but no specific earliest affected version is provided. The flaw could lead to unauthorized disclosure of customer reservation details, potentially exposing personal data and business-sensitive information. The root cause is a failure to properly validate and restrict user-controlled keys used in access control decisions, highlighting a fundamental security design weakness in the product.

For European organizations, especially those in the hospitality and restaurant sectors using Rustaurius Five Star Restaurant Reservations, this vulnerability poses a serious risk of unauthorized data exposure. Confidential customer information, including personal details and reservation specifics, could be accessed by attackers, leading to privacy violations and potential regulatory penalties under GDPR. The integrity and availability impacts are lower but still present, as unauthorized access could allow limited data manipulation or disruption of reservation services. The breach of confidentiality could damage customer trust and brand reputation, with potential financial losses from remediation and legal consequences. The vulnerability's remote exploitability and lack of required privileges increase the likelihood of attacks, particularly targeting organizations with online reservation systems. European companies with digitalized hospitality services are particularly vulnerable, given the widespread adoption of such software solutions. The absence of known exploits in the wild provides a window for proactive mitigation before active exploitation occurs.

Organizations should immediately audit their Rustaurius Five Star Restaurant Reservations deployments to identify affected versions and configurations. Since no official patches are currently available, administrators must implement compensating controls such as restricting network access to the reservation system to trusted IPs and enforcing strict authentication and authorization policies at the network and application layers. Review and harden access control logic by validating and sanitizing all user-controlled keys used in authorization decisions. Employ application-layer firewalls or web application firewalls (WAFs) to detect and block anomalous requests attempting to manipulate keys. Monitor logs for unusual access patterns or unauthorized data access attempts. Engage with Rustaurius for updates or patches and plan for prompt application once released. Additionally, conduct security awareness training for staff to recognize potential exploitation attempts and ensure incident response plans are updated to address this vulnerability. For long-term security, consider adopting a zero-trust model for internal access to sensitive systems.