Craft CMS 5.0.0-RC1 through 5.10.5 contains an incorrect authorization vulnerability. A control-panel user holding only the viewCategories…
VulnCheck·CWE-863·Published 2026-08-06
Craft CMS 5.0.0-RC1 through 5.10.5 contains an incorrect authorization vulnerability. A control-panel user holding only the viewCategories permission (without saveCategories) for a category group can permanently modify that group's category structure — reordering and re-parenting categories — via the structures/move-element action. The structureEditable flag is computed from the view permission rather than the save permission, and the StructuresController authorizes the mutating action on that read-time session grant without a save re-check. Because a category's URI is derived from its position in the structure, moving a category changes its URL and those of its descendants and can corrupt navigation menus built from the category taxonomy. The issue is fixed in 5.10.6.
Craft CMS 5.0.0-RC1 through 5.10.5 contains an incorrect authorization vulnerability. A control-panel user holding only the viewCategories permission (without saveCategories) for a category group can permanently modify that group's category structure — reordering and re-parenting categories — via the structures/move-element action. The structureEditable flag is computed from the view permission rather than the save permission, and the StructuresController authorizes the mutating action on that read-time session grant without a save re-check. Because a category's URI is derived from its position in the structure, moving a category changes its URL and those of its descendants and can corrupt navigation menus built from the category taxonomy. The issue is fixed in 5.10.6.
A control-panel user who holds only the viewCategories permission for a category group (and not saveCategories) can permanently modify that group's category structure — reordering and re-parenting categories via the structures/move-element action. A read-time authorization grant that a write endpoint later trusts. For categories, the structureEditable flag is computed from the view permission (`src/elements/Category.php:205`) instead of the save permission (entries correctly use saveEntries — `src/elements/Entry.php:341`). When the read-only category index renders, `craft\base\Element::indexHtml()` calls `Craft::$app->getSession()->authorize('editStructure:<structureId>');` StructuresController then authorizes the structure-mutating action solely on that session grant, with no canSave re-check. Verified on Craft CMS 5.10.5. Same class as the moderate-severity authorization bypasses fixed in 5.10.3 and 5.10.5; this is a distinct, unpatched instance. ## Impact A low-privileged, authenticated user (view-only on a category group) can persistently alter the sibling ordering and parent/child nesting of the category taxonomy. Because a category’s URI is derived from its position in the structure (ancestor slugs), moving a category changes its URL and the URLs of its descendants, and can corrupt any navigation/menus built from the category tree. This is an integrity/broken access-control issue: content that the user has no permission to modify is being modified. No confidentiality impact and no RCE; scope is content/taxonomy integrity.
A control-panel user who holds only the viewCategories permission for a category group (and not saveCategories) can permanently modify that group's category structure — reordering and re-parenting categories via the structures/move-element action. A read-time authorization grant that a write endpoint later trusts. For categories, the structureEditable flag is computed from the view permission (`src/elements/Category.php:205`) instead of the save permission (entries correctly use saveEntries — `src/elements/Entry.php:341`). When the read-only category index renders, `craft\base\Element::indexHtml()` calls `Craft::$app->getSession()->authorize('editStructure:<structureId>');` StructuresController then authorizes the structure-mutating action solely on that session grant, with no canSave re-check. Verified on Craft CMS 5.10.5. Same class as the moderate-severity authorization bypasses fixed in 5.10.3 and 5.10.5; this is a distinct, unpatched instance. ## Impact A low-privileged, authenticated user (view-only on a category group) can persistently alter the sibling ordering and parent/child nesting of the category taxonomy. Because a category’s URI is derived from its position in the structure (ancestor slugs), moving a category changes its URL and the URLs of its descendants, and can corrupt any navigation/menus built from the category tree. This is an integrity/broken access-control issue: content that the user has no permission to modify is being modified. No confidentiality impact and no RCE; scope is content/taxonomy integrity.
| Version | Type | Source | Base | Exp | Impact | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | Primary | cve.org | 4.3 | — | — | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N |
| 3.1 | Primary | NVD | 4.3 | 2.8 | 1.4 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N |
| 3.1 | Primary | cve.org | 4.3 | — | — | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N |
| 3.1 | Secondary | NVD | 4.3 | 2.8 | 1.4 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N |
| 4.0 | Primary | cve.org | 9.3 | — | — | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
| 4.0 | Primary | cve.org | 9.3 | — | — | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
| 4.0 | Secondary | ENISA EUVD | 9.3 | — | — | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
| 4.0 | Secondary | NVD | 9.3 | — | — | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/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 |
| 4.0 | Secondary | GHSA | 5.3 | — | — | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |