Administrator account disruption via duplicate-username overwrite
Published May 11, 2026 · Updated May 11, 2026
Authorization bypass in Grav before 2.0.0-beta.2 allows remote authenticated users to disable administrator accounts through user creation. UserObject::save fails to reject an existing username for some storage backends and transient keys, allowing supplied metadata and permissions to replace the targeted account. Access to admin.users.create is required, and overwriting administrator accounts can eliminate management access to the CMS.
Summary
What happened
Authorization bypass in Grav before 2.0.0-beta.2 allows remote authenticated users to disable administrator accounts through user creation. UserObject::save fails to reject an existing username for some storage backends and transient keys, allowing supplied metadata and permissions to replace the targeted account. Access to admin.users.create is required, and overwriting administrator accounts can eliminate management access to the CMS.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-42609
- Published
- May 11, 2026
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- Grav
- Product
- Grav
- Classifications
- CWE-269, CWE-639, CWE-285, CWE-837, T1531
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 11, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=< 2.0.0-beta.2
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Vendor advisory account-overwrite PoCproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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