Description

Incorrect Authorization vulnerability in Drupal Quick Tabs allows Forceful Browsing. This issue affects Quick Tabs versions: from 0.0.0 to 4.3.1.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "5.3",
  "pubDate": "2026-09-02T13:18:08.530Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-09-02T13:18:08.530Z",
  "executiveSummary": "The Drupal Quick Tabs module is affected by an Incorrect Authorization vulnerability that facilitates Forceful Browsing attacks.\nThis flaw resides in versions 0.0.0 through 4.3.1 of the module.\nThe vulnerability allows unauthorized users to access restricted or sensitive data segments that should otherwise be protected by appropriate access control lists or permission checks.\nBy bypassing established authorization mechanisms, an attacker can navigate to restricted administrative or private tabs that are not intended for their assigned privilege level.\nThe primary risk involves unauthorized information disclosure and potential unauthorized interactions with module-managed content.\nExploitation requires no special authentication if the resource is reachable, or potentially standard user privileges if specific tab access is restricted by internal module logic.\nThis vulnerability highlights a critical failure in the module's backend authorization validation logic when handling requests for tab content.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability originates from a failure in the Drupal Quick Tabs module to properly validate authorization tokens and access permissions before rendering tab content requested via HTTP requests. In the context of the Drupal framework, modules must utilize the access check system to verify if the current user has the necessary permissions to view or interact with specific render elements or callback functions associated with tab structures.\nThe flaw manifests as an Incorrect Authorization vulnerability where the application logic fails to perform a rigorous security check on the requested resource. When a user requests a tab's content, the module fails to verify if the user possesses the required Drupal permission or role-based access rights to view the underlying data structure associated with that tab index or machine name.\nThis leads to a Forceful Browsing scenario where an attacker can systematically enumerate and access private or restricted tabs by directly crafting or manipulating the HTTP request parameters that trigger the Quick Tabs rendering functions. Because the module does not enforce the principle of least privilege during the route processing or rendering phase, the server processes the request as a valid action regardless of the attacker's actual authorization level.\nThe attack flow follows a predictable pattern: first, the attacker identifies the endpoints utilized by the Quick Tabs module for dynamic tab loading. Second, the attacker manipulates request arguments (such as tab IDs or plugin identifiers) to point toward non-public or sensitive tabs. Finally, the server-side code executes the retrieval logic and returns the rendered content of the requested tab to the user, effectively bypassing the security boundary that should have restricted this access.\nThis vulnerability is present in all Quick Tabs versions from 0.0.0 through 4.3.1. It is a critical issue for any Drupal deployment relying on Quick Tabs to organize content with varying degrees of visibility or sensitivity. The lack of validation occurs at the component level within the module, rendering the entire tab structure potentially visible to unauthorized parties.\nPost-exploitation, an attacker may gain unauthorized access to data that is intended to be protected, potentially exposing sensitive configuration details, private content, or administrative interface elements managed by the module. This impact is significant in environments where Quick Tabs are used to display content based on user roles or specific workflow states."
}