Insecure Flask Secret-Key File Permissions Allow Local Administrator Session Forgery in RansomLook
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-78553 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | CIRCL |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-08-24 20:17:24 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-08-24 20:17:24 UTC |
| Description | RansomLook created its Flask session-signing key without explicitly restricting the file permissions. The secret_key file was created using the process's default permissions and umask, resulting in permissions such as 0644 under a common 022 umask. Consequently, other local users able to access the RansomLook home directory could read the application's cryptographic secret. The exposed key is security-critical because it is used to sign Flask session cookies and is also involved in the legacy API-key key derivation. An attacker who obtains the key can generate valid session cookies and impersonate an authenticated user, including an administrator. In LDAP configurations, exploitation may be particularly straightforward because the session user loader does not require the supplied username to correspond to an existing local user. Successful exploitation requires local access sufficient to read the improperly protected file, but can result in complete compromise of RansomLook's authentication and authorization controls. The patch creates new secret-key files atomically with permissions 0600 and also restricts permissions on existing key files during application startup. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v4.0 7 HIGH from 5a6e4751-2f3f-4070-9419-94fb35b644e8
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:L/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
Problem Types: CWE-276 | CWE-732 | CWE-276 CWE-276 Incorrect Default Permissions | CWE-732 CWE-732 Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 5a6e4751-2f3f-4070-9419-94fb35b644e8 | Secondary | 7 | HIGH | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C... |
| 4.0 | CNA | CVSS | 7 | HIGH | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
CVSS v4.0 Breakdown
Attack Vector
LocalAttack Complexity
LowAttack Requirements
NonePrivileges Required
NoneUser Interaction
NoneConfidentiality
HighIntegrity
LowAvailability
NoneSub Conf.
NoneSub Integrity
NoneSub Availability
NoneCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:L/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
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Ransomlook | Ransomlook | affected 2.0.0 semver | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com/RansomLook/RansomLook/commit/df9d47edcf02dd0125db869d5bc19d93... | 5a6e4751-2f3f-4070-9419-94fb35b644e8 | github.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
Vendor Comments And Credit
Discovery Credit
CNA: Jeroen Pinoy (en)
CNA: Fafner [_KeyZee_] (en)
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.