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Kimai: Teamlead authorization bypass in GET /api/timesheets allows reading other users' timesheet records without being teamlead of the target

Moderate severity GitHub Reviewed Published Jun 11, 2026 in kimai/kimai • Updated Jul 13, 2026

Package

composer kimai/kimai (Composer)

Affected versions

<= 2.56.0

Patched versions

2.57.0

Description

Summary

GET /api/timesheets?user=<id> (and users[]=<id>) returns the targeted user's timesheet records to any caller that has the view_other_timesheet permission, without verifying that the caller is teamlead of any team containing the target user. The per-record endpoint GET /api/timesheets/{id} correctly enforces this check via TimesheetVoter/RolePermissionManager::checkTeamAccessTimesheetcheckTeamLeadAccess, but the list endpoint only filters projects/customers by team membership and never validates t.user. A ROLE_TEAMLEAD user can therefore enumerate any user's records — including the rate field — as long as those records are on a project with no team scoping (Kimai's default) or on any project that shares any team (membership, not lead) with the requester.

Details

Root cause: authorization mismatch between the per-record voter and the list endpoint.

Per-record path (correct)

src/Voter/TimesheetVoter.php:138:

if (!$this->permissionManager->checkTeamAccessTimesheet($subject, $user)) {
    return false;
}
return $this->permissionManager->hasRolePermission($user, $permission . '_other_timesheet');

checkTeamLeadAccess (RolePermissionManager.php:143-160) requires isTeamleadOf (not just member) one of the target user's teams. The unit test testTeamleadDeniedWhenOnlyPlainMemberOfOwnerTeam (tests/Voter/TimesheetVoterTest.php:253-269) codifies this:

"a TEAMLEAD role with view_other_timesheet must not access another user's timesheet by being a plain team member — they must be the team's teamlead."

List path (vulnerable)

src/API/TimesheetController.php:97-119:

public function cgetAction(ParamFetcherInterface $paramFetcher, ..., UserRepository $userRepository): Response
{
    $query = new TimesheetQuery(false);
    $this->prepareQuery($query, $paramFetcher);
    $seeAll = false;

    if ($this->isGranted('view_other_timesheet')) {
        /** @var array<int> $users */
        $users = $paramFetcher->get('users');
        $userId = $paramFetcher->get('user');

        if ('all' === $userId) {
            $seeAll = true;
        } elseif (\is_string($userId) && $userId !== '') {
            $users[] = (int) $userId;
        }

        if (!$seeAll) {
            foreach ($userRepository->findByIds($users) as $user) {
                $query->addUser($user);   // <-- no teamlead-of-target check
            }
        }
    }
    ...

config/packages/kimai.yaml:96,115 grants TIMESHEET_OTHER (which contains view_other_timesheet) to ROLE_TEAMLEAD, so the gate at line 103 passes for any teamlead. The user= / users[]= IDs are pushed straight into the query.

Net effect

For any victim bob who:

  • has at least one team that the requester alice is not teamlead of (so the voter denies per-record access), AND
  • has timesheets either on a project with no team (Kimai's default), or on a project that shares any team with alice (membership, not lead)

alice is denied via GET /api/timesheets/{id} but receives bob's records via GET /api/timesheets?user=<bob_id>.

Disclosed fields in the collection response include description, begin, end, duration, billable, exported, tags, rate, internalRate, plus project/activity/user IDs (Default/Collection serializer groups, Timesheet.php:164-173). rate is financial data that the per-record voter is supposed to gate via the separate view_rate_other_timesheet permission.

Why other proposed mitigations don't apply

  • The view_other_timesheet IsGranted on the route is the only authorization layer in the list path; ROLE_TEAMLEAD has it globally.
  • prepareQuery only sets currentUser, not authorization (BaseApiController.php:68-71).
  • The serializer does not filter rate per caller — it is a static Default-group property.
  • Recent commit 20c7b03 "Re-usable ACL checks on teams" hardened the voter side but left the list endpoint unchanged.

A PoC was provided, but removed for security reasons.

Impact

  • Authorization bypass: a ROLE_TEAMLEAD (a non-admin role typically granted to multiple users in a Kimai instance) can read any other user's timesheet records
  • Financial data disclosure: the rate and internalRate fields are returned in the collection serializer group, leaking what gets billed/costed against any user's records.
  • PII / activity disclosure: per-entry description, begin, end, duration, billable, exported, project/activity/customer IDs, and tags are leaked, allowing reconstruction of any user's activity timeline.

Solution

The list of requested user TimesheetController::cgetAction() is now guarded with the access_user permission.
The access_user permission verifies that the requesting user is allowed to see each of the requested user.
If any of the requested users may not be seen, the entire call will fail.

Find out more at https://www.kimai.org/en/security/ghsa-4m8q-55qv-9pwp

References

@kevinpapst kevinpapst published to kimai/kimai Jun 11, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Jul 13, 2026
Reviewed Jul 13, 2026
Last updated Jul 13, 2026

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v4 base metrics

Exploitability Metrics
Attack Vector Network
Attack Complexity Low
Attack Requirements Present
Privileges Required None
User interaction None
Vulnerable System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality Low
Integrity None
Availability None
Subsequent System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality None
Integrity None
Availability None

CVSS v4 base metrics

Exploitability Metrics
Attack Vector: This metric reflects the context by which vulnerability exploitation is possible. This metric value (and consequently the resulting severity) will be larger the more remote (logically, and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerable system. The assumption is that the number of potential attackers for a vulnerability that could be exploited from across a network is larger than the number of potential attackers that could exploit a vulnerability requiring physical access to a device, and therefore warrants a greater severity.
Attack Complexity: This metric captures measurable actions that must be taken by the attacker to actively evade or circumvent existing built-in security-enhancing conditions in order to obtain a working exploit. These are conditions whose primary purpose is to increase security and/or increase exploit engineering complexity. A vulnerability exploitable without a target-specific variable has a lower complexity than a vulnerability that would require non-trivial customization. This metric is meant to capture security mechanisms utilized by the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: This metric captures the prerequisite deployment and execution conditions or variables of the vulnerable system that enable the attack. These differ from security-enhancing techniques/technologies (ref Attack Complexity) as the primary purpose of these conditions is not to explicitly mitigate attacks, but rather, emerge naturally as a consequence of the deployment and execution of the vulnerable system.
Privileges Required: This metric describes the level of privileges an attacker must possess prior to successfully exploiting the vulnerability. The method by which the attacker obtains privileged credentials prior to the attack (e.g., free trial accounts), is outside the scope of this metric. Generally, self-service provisioned accounts do not constitute a privilege requirement if the attacker can grant themselves privileges as part of the attack.
User interaction: This metric captures the requirement for a human user, other than the attacker, to participate in the successful compromise of the vulnerable system. This metric determines whether the vulnerability can be exploited solely at the will of the attacker, or whether a separate user (or user-initiated process) must participate in some manner.
Vulnerable System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality: This metric measures the impact to the confidentiality of the information managed by the VULNERABLE SYSTEM due to a successfully exploited vulnerability. Confidentiality refers to limiting information access and disclosure to only authorized users, as well as preventing access by, or disclosure to, unauthorized ones.
Integrity: This metric measures the impact to integrity of a successfully exploited vulnerability. Integrity refers to the trustworthiness and veracity of information. Integrity of the VULNERABLE SYSTEM is impacted when an attacker makes unauthorized modification of system data. Integrity is also impacted when a system user can repudiate critical actions taken in the context of the system (e.g. due to insufficient logging).
Availability: This metric measures the impact to the availability of the VULNERABLE SYSTEM resulting from a successfully exploited vulnerability. While the Confidentiality and Integrity impact metrics apply to the loss of confidentiality or integrity of data (e.g., information, files) used by the system, this metric refers to the loss of availability of the impacted system itself, such as a networked service (e.g., web, database, email). Since availability refers to the accessibility of information resources, attacks that consume network bandwidth, processor cycles, or disk space all impact the availability of a system.
Subsequent System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality: This metric measures the impact to the confidentiality of the information managed by the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM due to a successfully exploited vulnerability. Confidentiality refers to limiting information access and disclosure to only authorized users, as well as preventing access by, or disclosure to, unauthorized ones.
Integrity: This metric measures the impact to integrity of a successfully exploited vulnerability. Integrity refers to the trustworthiness and veracity of information. Integrity of the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM is impacted when an attacker makes unauthorized modification of system data. Integrity is also impacted when a system user can repudiate critical actions taken in the context of the system (e.g. due to insufficient logging).
Availability: This metric measures the impact to the availability of the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM resulting from a successfully exploited vulnerability. While the Confidentiality and Integrity impact metrics apply to the loss of confidentiality or integrity of data (e.g., information, files) used by the system, this metric refers to the loss of availability of the impacted system itself, such as a networked service (e.g., web, database, email). Since availability refers to the accessibility of information resources, attacks that consume network bandwidth, processor cycles, or disk space all impact the availability of a system.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

EPSS score

Weaknesses

Incorrect Authorization

The product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-52819

GHSA ID

GHSA-4m8q-55qv-9pwp

Source code

Credits

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