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CVE-2026-52824criticalCWE-1188

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

63Vexday Risk Score

Patch soon. It has a working public exploit.

ssvc Attendcvss 9.1epss 2.1%
from disclosure to weapon0 days
Published on NVDSep 15
1st PoCAug 4
exploitation probability
2.1%top 20% of all CVEs
observed exploitation
nono source reports it
1 public exploit(s)
Kimai 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.
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
Affected products
kimai · kimai
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