Description

In JetBrains Hub before 2026.2.52519 privilege escalation via forged email verification was possible

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.5",
  "pubDate": "2026-11-06T11:17:08.400Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-11-06T11:17:08.400Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A privilege escalation vulnerability has been identified in JetBrains Hub affecting versions prior to 2026.2.52519.\nThe flaw stems from an improper validation mechanism within the email verification process, allowing an attacker to forge verification signals.\nThis vulnerability allows unauthorized users to bypass security controls associated with identity confirmation, potentially leading to unauthorized account access or escalation of privileges.\nThe impact is significant, as successful exploitation enables attackers to circumvent identity assurance protocols implemented within the application.\nThe vulnerability is exploitable via network-based vectors, requiring no prior authentication to the target account, as the forgery occurs during the initiation of the verification workflow.\nThe risk implication involves the compromise of user accounts and the potential takeover of elevated roles by exploiting flawed validation logic in the authentication flow.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides within the JetBrains Hub email verification service, specifically the logic responsible for confirming that an identity belongs to a verifiable email address.\nThe root cause is an insecure implementation of the email verification token validation process, which fails to cryptographically bind verification requests to the unique identity of the requesting user or properly sanitize input parameters during the callback phase.\nIn a standard attack flow, an attacker initiates an account registration or modification process. When the application triggers an email verification workflow, the attacker intercepts or crafts the request parameters that define the verification state.\nDue to the lack of strict validation, the application processes a forged request as if it originated from a legitimate verification action initiated by the server-side logic.\nBy manipulating the verification callback or the parameters passed to the verification endpoint, an attacker can bypass the requirement to prove ownership of the target email address.\nOnce the forged verification is accepted by the backend, the system updates the status of the account to 'verified,' effectively granting the attacker the privileges associated with a validated identity.\nThis bypass facilitates privilege escalation if the application logic confers additional permissions, such as access to administrative interfaces or restricted data, based on the 'verified' status of an account.\nThe vulnerability is present in all JetBrains Hub installations prior to version 2026.2.52519.\nExploitation does not require prior knowledge of legitimate verification tokens, as the mechanism relies on the server's failure to verify the authenticity of the incoming request payload against the internal state of the pending verification.\nThe attack is conducted over standard network protocols used for web traffic, targeting the web-based API endpoints of the Hub instance.\nPost-exploitation, the attacker gains unauthorized control over the identified account, enabling further malicious activities, including persistence within the system, unauthorized data exfiltration, or configuration modification, depending on the role assigned to the affected account."
}