Kimai: Default APP_SECRET in Docker Image Enables Cookie Forgery and Account Takeover

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-52824
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-09-15 11:17:09 UTC
Updated2026-09-16 18:17:09 UTC
DescriptionKimai is an open-source time tracking application. Prior to 2.58.0, the official Docker image sets APP_SECRET to the public value change_this_to_something_unique in Dockerfile, and .docker/entrypoint.sh neither replaces nor rejects that value before Symfony uses it as kernel.secret. An unauthenticated attacker who reaches a deployment that did not override APP_SECRET, knows a username, correctly guesses the account ID associated with that username, and targets an account without active two-factor authentication can forge HMAC-protected authentication artifacts, including KIMAI_REMEMBER cookies and login links, to access the account without its password. The updated entrypoint generates and persists a random secret when no safe operator-provided value exists. This issue is fixed in version 2.58.0.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v4.0 9.1 CRITICAL from [email protected]

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

EPSS: 0.020620000 probability, percentile 0.803800000 (date 2026-09-16)

Problem Types: CWE-1188 | CWE-1188 CWE-1188: Insecure Default Initialization of Resource

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
4.0[email protected]Secondary9.1CRITICALCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C...
4.0CNADECLARED9.1CRITICALCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

CVSS v4.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
High
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None
Sub Conf.
None
Sub Integrity
None
Sub Availability
None

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Kimai Kimai affected < 2.58.0 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/kimai/kimai/releases/tag/2.58.0 [email protected] github.com
www.kimai.org/en/security/ghsa-jr9p-4h4j-6c58 [email protected] www.kimai.org
github.com/kimai/kimai/commit/31a8f887a5cda517db7b4320a7ad997c87d08601 [email protected] github.com
github.com/kimai/kimai/security/advisories/GHSA-jr9p-4h4j-6c58 [email protected] github.com
github.com/kimai/kimai/pull/5952 [email protected] github.com
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

© CVE.report 2026

Use of this information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition. There are NO warranties, implied or otherwise, with regard to this information or its use. Any use of this information is at the user's risk. It is the responsibility of user to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content. EACH USER WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY consequences of his or her direct or indirect use of this web site. ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED. This site will NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT or any other kind of loss.

CVE, CWE, and OVAL are registred trademarks of The MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CVE content is MITRE's CVE web site. This site includes MITRE data granted under the following license.

Free CVE JSON API cve.report/api

CVE.report and Source URL Uptime Status status.cve.report