Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
OpenEMR before 8.0.0 can let an authenticated user retrieve another patient’s photo if they have document ACL access. This is a privacy issue affecting patient images, not system takeover. The vendor advisory states version 8.0.0 fixes it.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for healthcare environments handling patient records. The issue exposes patient photos and may create privacy obligations, but sources indicate it requires authenticated access and has no confirmed active exploitation.
Technical view
The document controller’s patient_picture context accepts a document ID or patient ID and, before 8.0.0, does not verify authorization for the target patient. This is CWE-639, an authorization bypass through user-controlled key. CVSS 3.1 is 6.5: network, low complexity, low privileges, no user interaction, high confidentiality impact.
Likely exposure
OpenEMR deployments running versions earlier than 8.0.0 are affected. Exposure requires an authenticated user with document ACL permissions. Patient photo confidentiality is the primary business risk.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not report active exploitation, and the CVE is not marked KEV. Abuse would require valid application access and relevant document permissions, limiting reach but still creating sensitive health-data exposure.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE record, GitHub advisory, and fixing commit. The core issue is missing patient-level authorization in patient_picture retrieval by document or patient ID. Avoid assuming broader patient record exposure beyond photos based on current sources.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade OpenEMR to version 8.0.0 or later.
- Review the GitHub security advisory for vendor-specific guidance.
- Restrict document ACL permissions to users with a business need.
- Review patient data access policies for least-privilege alignment.
Validation and detection
- Inventory OpenEMR instances and confirm installed versions.
- Identify any OpenEMR deployments below version 8.0.0.
- Review which users have document ACL permissions.
- Check application logs for unusual patient_picture access patterns, if available.
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-639: 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 lookupCVE-2026-25929 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
- 6.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/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:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N2.83.6Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/openemr/openemr/security/advisories/GHSA-778w-r8rm-8qhqCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/openemr/openemr/commit/fc4d00ecb63561dacd23cb1fed49c64bd1a83258CVE 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.
Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.