Description

HCL Hive Keycloak IAM Instance is affected by insufficient granularity of access control which could allow an attacker unauthorized access to resources.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "5.3",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-24T14:16:49.623Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-24T14:16:49.623Z",
  "executiveSummary": "An insufficient granularity of access control vulnerability has been identified within the HCL Hive Keycloak IAM instance. This security flaw introduces significant risk implications by permitting attackers to bypass intended authorization boundaries and gain unauthorized access to restricted resources. The affected product is the HCL Hive Keycloak IAM instance, which handles identity and access management functions. The vulnerability stems from overly broad access control definitions or improper privilege enforcement mechanisms within the application architecture. An attacker possessing network connectivity to the vulnerable instance can exploit this flaw to interact with administrative or protected system resources without holding the requisite authorization levels. The potential impact includes unauthorized resource exposure, potential data compromise, and degradation of the overall security posture enforced by the identity provider. Exploitation prerequisites generally involve the ability to interact with the target IAM endpoints, while the exact authentication requirements depend on the specific access control boundary being bypassed. Remediation requires refining access control lists, implementing stringent role-based or attribute-based access controls, and restricting endpoint visibility to ensure that only properly authorized entities can access sensitive system functions and resources.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides in the access control enforcement mechanisms implemented within the HCL Hive Keycloak IAM instance. Specifically, the root cause is categorized as insufficient granularity of access control, wherein the authorization logic fails to adequately differentiate between varying privilege levels, roles, or resource ownership parameters during request processing. In an identity and access management system, access control enforcement is critical for ensuring that authenticated or unauthenticated principals can only access resources and execute actions explicitly permitted by security policies. Due to the lack of fine-grained checks, the affected application components process requests for protected resources without properly validating whether the requesting entity possesses the specific administrative or functional entitlements required for that context.\nThe exploitation method relies on sending crafted requests targeting endpoints or resources that are inadequately protected by the underlying authorization framework. The attack flow typically begins with the adversary identifying exposed API routes, management interfaces, or functional components within the HCL Hive Keycloak IAM instance. The attacker then issues direct HTTP requests to these sensitive resources, bypassing user interface controls or standard navigational paths. Because the underlying server-side logic suffers from insufficient access control granularity, it fails to reject the requests and instead processes them, returning sensitive data or executing privileged actions.\nThe vulnerable components encompass the authorization middleware, API endpoints, or routing handlers responsible for enforcing security policies within the IAM architecture. Regarding authentication and privilege requirements, the vulnerability may allow unauthenticated attackers or low-privileged users to access functionality intended solely for higher-privileged roles, such as administrators or service accounts. The network exposure is typically tied to the accessibility of the Keycloak IAM instance services over the network. The post-exploitation impact includes unauthorized data disclosure, manipulation of identity records, potential escalation of privileges within the broader ecosystem reliant on the IAM instance, and compromise of system confidentiality and integrity. Remediation and hardening must focus on rewriting authorization checks to ensure rigorous, fine-grained validation of permissions for every distinct operation and resource."
}