CVE-2025-68044 is an authorization bypass vulnerability classified under CWE-639, which involves authorization bypass through a user-controlled key in the Rustaurius Five Star Restaurant Reservations system. This vulnerability stems from incorrectly configured access control security levels, where the system trusts user-supplied keys to determine access rights. As a result, an attacker can manipulate these keys to gain unauthorized access to restricted resources or functionalities without needing authentication or user interaction. The vulnerability affects versions up to 2.7.8 of the product, though specific affected versions are not fully enumerated. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.6 reflects its high impact, with an attack vector of network (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). This means the flaw can be exploited remotely by unauthenticated attackers to access sensitive data, potentially exposing personal or business-critical information stored within the reservation system. The vulnerability does not currently have known exploits in the wild, but its ease of exploitation and significant confidentiality impact make it a critical risk. The root cause is the system's failure to properly validate and enforce access control policies on user-controlled keys, allowing attackers to bypass authorization checks. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous in environments handling sensitive customer data and reservation details, as unauthorized access could lead to privacy breaches, data theft, or manipulation of reservation records.

For European organizations, especially those in the hospitality and restaurant sectors using the Rustaurius Five Star Restaurant Reservations system, this vulnerability poses a significant risk. Unauthorized access could lead to exposure of customer personal data, reservation details, and potentially payment information, violating GDPR and other privacy regulations. This could result in regulatory fines, reputational damage, and loss of customer trust. The confidentiality impact is high, as attackers can access sensitive information without authentication. Integrity and availability impacts are lower but still present, as attackers might alter reservation data or cause minor service disruptions. The ease of exploitation and lack of required privileges increase the likelihood of attacks, potentially targeting chains of restaurants or hospitality groups operating across multiple European countries. Additionally, the vulnerability could be leveraged for further lateral movement within compromised networks if attackers gain access to backend systems. The absence of known exploits currently provides a window for proactive mitigation, but the high CVSS score indicates urgent attention is needed to prevent future exploitation.

1. Immediately audit and review access control mechanisms related to user-controlled keys within the Rustaurius Five Star Restaurant Reservations system. 2. Implement strict server-side validation and authorization checks that do not rely on user-supplied keys for access decisions. 3. Employ role-based access control (RBAC) or attribute-based access control (ABAC) models to enforce least privilege principles. 4. Monitor logs and network traffic for unusual access patterns or attempts to manipulate authorization keys. 5. Segregate the reservation system network segment to limit lateral movement in case of compromise. 6. Apply any vendor patches promptly once released; in the absence of patches, consider temporary compensating controls such as web application firewalls (WAFs) configured to detect and block suspicious requests. 7. Conduct penetration testing focused on authorization bypass scenarios to identify and remediate similar weaknesses. 8. Train development and security teams on secure coding practices related to access control and key management. 9. Ensure compliance with GDPR by protecting customer data and reporting any breaches promptly. 10. Engage with Rustaurius support channels to obtain updates and guidance on vulnerability remediation.