VulnerabilityPublished 15 Sep 2026

CVE-2026-54050: sakaiproject sakai · Insecure Direct Object Reference

Affects sakaiproject sakaiSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium : upgrade to 23.5 when convenient.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 20:25 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 24% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 23.5

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: High
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 15 Sep 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 30 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade sakai and sakaiproject/sakai to 23.5.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
sakaiprojectsakai	Affected >=23.0 <23.5 >=25.0 <=25.2	Fixed in 23.5
GitHubsakaiproject/sakai`pkg:github/sakaiproject/sakai`Other threats	Affected >=23.0 <23.5 >=25.0 <=25.2	Fixed in 23.5

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Upgrade Sakai to version 23.5, 25.3, or 26.0 or later where this issue is fixed. Until upgrade, restrict authenticated user privileges to trusted users only to reduce risk. No other mitigations are documented. The vendor advisory confirms an official fix is available in the stated versions.

Description

Sakai is a Collaboration and Learning Environment (CLE). From 23.0 until 23.5 and 25.3, the DELETE /api/users/{userId}/profile/image endpoint allows an authenticated user to delete another user's profile image because ProfileController.removeProfileImage() passes the attacker-controlled userId to ProfileServiceImpl.removeProfileImage() without verifying ownership, and profileImageUploadedRepository.deleteById(userId) removes the selected row. The related DELETE /api/users/{userId}/profile/pronunciation endpoint also omits session validation and ownership checks before ProfileServiceImpl.removePronunciationRecording() deletes the target user's recording. The upload path is not affected because it already verifies ownership, and superusers remain intentionally authorized to modify other profiles. Successful exploitation can repeatedly remove profile identity artifacts, including administrator and instructor images, and disrupt workflows that rely on those artifacts. This issue is fixed in versions 23.5, 25.3, and 26.0.

Impact

Exploitation allows authenticated users to delete profile images and pronunciation recordings of other users without authorization, potentially disrupting workflows that rely on these identity artifacts. There is no impact on confidentiality or availability, but integrity of profile data is compromised. The vulnerability does not allow deletion of profile uploads or other data, and superusers are unaffected as they are authorized to perform these actions.

Summary

CVE-2026-54050 is an authorization bypass vulnerability in Sakai's DELETE /api/users/{userId}/profile/image and DELETE /api/users/{userId}/profile/pronunciation endpoints. The ProfileController methods pass an attacker-controlled userId to service methods without verifying that the authenticated user owns the targeted profile data. Consequently, an authenticated user with limited privileges can delete profile images and pronunciation recordings of other users, including administrators and instructors. The upload functionality is unaffected as it enforces ownership checks. Superusers retain intentional authorization to modify other profiles. The vulnerability is resolved in Sakai versions 23.5, 25.3, and 26.0.

CWE-639Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #24OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The system's authorization functionality does not prevent one user from gaining access to another user's data or record by modifying the key value identifying the data.
Architecture and Design
For each and every data access, ensure that the user has sufficient privilege to access the record that is being requested.
Architecture and Design · Implementation
Make sure that the key that is used in the lookup of a specific user's record is not controllable externally by the user or that any tampering can be detected.
Architecture and Design
Use encryption in order to make it more difficult to guess other legitimate values of the key or associate a digital signature with the key so that the server can verify that there has been no tampering.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Access Control (opens in a new tab)
Authorization Testing Automation (opens in a new tab)
Cross-Site Request Forgery Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Insecure Direct Object Reference Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V4.1.2 (opens in a new tab)
V4.2.1 (opens in a new tab)
V8.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 15 Sep 2026, 17:47 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-639

Technical details

References

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