Description

A vulnerability was detected in CodeAstro QR Code Attendance Management System 1.0. This affects the function Save of the file app/Controllers/UserController.php. The manipulation of the argument role_id results in improper privilege management. The attack can be executed remotely. The exploit is now public and may be used.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "6.6",
  "pubDate": "2026-09-20T20:16:54.510Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-09-20T20:16:54.510Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A critical vulnerability exists in the QR Code Attendance Management System 1.0, specifically within the user account creation and update logic.\nThe vulnerability is classified as improper privilege management, stemming from the application's failure to adequately validate user-supplied input for the role_id parameter.\nBy manipulating this argument during the save process, an attacker can escalate privileges, effectively assigning unauthorized roles to user accounts.\nThis flaw allows for remote exploitation, enabling unauthorized actors to gain administrative control or elevated access levels within the application environment.\nThe risk implication is high, as the vulnerability is currently publicly documented, increasing the likelihood of active exploitation.\nSuccessful exploitation requires the ability to interact with the target system's HTTP request parameters, but it does not inherently require complex bypass techniques beyond standard parameter tampering.\nThe impact includes full compromise of user authorization boundaries, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, system configuration changes, and complete account takeover within the platform.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides within the Save function of the app/Controllers/UserController.php file in CodeAstro QR Code Attendance Management System 1.0.\nThe root cause is a lack of server-side authorization checks or input validation regarding the role_id field during user object persistence.\nWhen a user or administrator submits data to the Save function, the application processes the POST request and directly maps the role_id provided in the request body to the underlying database record without verifying if the user initiating the request possesses the necessary permissions to assign such roles.\nAn attacker can exploit this by intercepting the HTTP request sent to the UserController during a user creation or profile update operation.\nBy modifying the role_id parameter to a value corresponding to an administrator or a privileged account type, the attacker forces the system to elevate the target account's authorization level.\nThe attack flow follows these steps: 1. The attacker authenticates to the application with low-privileged credentials or intercepts a registration process. 2. The attacker triggers a request to the Save function. 3. The attacker injects or alters the role_id parameter within the HTTP POST payload to correspond to a high-privilege identifier. 4. The application logic fails to perform a cross-reference check between the current session's user role and the requested role_id being saved. 5. The application commits the modified role_id to the database, effectively promoting the user account.\nBecause the vulnerability is located in the controller responsible for user management, it bypasses standard UI-level restrictions. The exploitation is entirely remote and relies on the server's blind trust in the client-side supplied role_id parameter.\nPost-exploitation, the impact is severe, as the attacker can gain full administrative privileges. This facilitates unauthorized access to sensitive attendance logs, modification of system settings, or the deletion of audit trails. The absence of strict server-side enforcement of authorization state transitions allows for silent privilege escalation, leaving little evidence of tampering within standard application logs."
}