Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Kimai versions before 2.46.0 allow a logged-in user with export permissions to abuse export templates and read sensitive data. Reported exposure includes environment variables, user password hashes, session tokens, and CSRF tokens. This is not a public unauthenticated takeover, but it can seriously impact confidentiality where export permissions are broadly granted.
Executive priority
Treat as a near-term remediation item for any organization using Kimai. Prioritize faster if export permissions are widely assigned or the application stores sensitive operational data. Upgrade is the clearest vendor-supported path.
Technical view
CVE-2026-23626 is an authenticated server-side template injection issue in Kimai export functionality. The Twig sandbox policy was overly permissive, allowing arbitrary method calls on objects available to templates. The advisory states version 2.46.0 patches the issue. CVSS is 6.8 with high confidentiality impact and high privileges required.
Likely exposure
Exposed systems are Kimai deployments below 2.46.0 where users have export permissions. Risk is higher if many internal users, contractors, or lower-trust accounts can create or modify export templates.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not indicate known active exploitation, and KEV status is false. Exploitation requires authentication and export permissions, but no user interaction. The main impact is sensitive data disclosure rather than integrity or availability loss.
Researcher notes
The root issue is CWE-1336 in Twig sandbox policy design. Sources identify DefaultPolicy allowing overly broad method access from template context. Public bundle names the patch release and related PR/commit, but does not provide evidence of exploitation in the wild.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Kimai to version 2.46.0 or later.
- Review Kimai’s GitHub advisory and release notes for vendor guidance.
- Limit export permissions to trusted users until upgraded.
- If compromise is suspected, rotate exposed secrets and invalidate affected sessions.
Validation and detection
- Identify all Kimai instances and confirm installed versions.
- Flag any Kimai deployment running below 2.46.0.
- Review which accounts have export permissions.
- Inspect recent export template changes for unusual activity.
- Assess whether exposed secrets require rotation after investigation.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-1336: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCredential and access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references authentication or credential exposure, so valid-account and credential-access review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-23626 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N2.34Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.8MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/kimai/kimai/security/advisories/GHSA-jg2j-2w24-54cgCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/kimai/kimai/pull/5757CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/kimai/kimai/commit/6a86afb5fd79f6c1825060b87c09bd1909c2e86fCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/kimai/kimai/releases/tag/2.46.0CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements Used in a Template Engine
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements Used in a Template Engine represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.