CVE-2026-28781: Craft CMS Entries Authorship Spoofing Vulnerability
MODERATECVE-2026-28781 is a MODERATE entries authorship spoofing vulnerability (CWE-639: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key) affecting Craft CMS libraries in the Packagist ecosystem. The issue involves entries authorship spoofing via mass assignment. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 5.9.0-beta.1, 4.17.0-beta.1.
CVE-2026-28781 at a Glance
How to Fix CVE-2026-28781
To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Craft CMS dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.
Upgrade craftcms/cms to 5.9.0-beta.1
Upgrade craftcms/cms to 4.17.0-beta.1
Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:
inspect dependencies for craftcms/cms
How to Check if You Are Affected
To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2026-28781, inspect your project dependencies for Craft CMS:
inspect dependencies for craftcms/cms
Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Craft CMS in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 5.9.0-beta.1), your application is affected.
Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.
Technical Details
Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis
This vulnerability is classified under CWE-639: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key, where the system's authorization functionality does not prevent one user from gaining access to another user's data or record by modifying the key value identifying the data. In Craft CMS, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.
Source Advisory Statement
CVE-2026-28781 Affected Craft CMS Versions
2 component(s)| Product / Package | Ecosystem | Affected Versions | Fixed Version |
|---|---|---|---|
|
craftcms/cms
|
Packagist |
≥ 5.0.0-RC1
< 5.9.0-beta.1
|
5.9.0-beta.1
|
|
craftcms/cms
|
Packagist |
≥ 4.0.0-RC1
< 4.17.0-beta.1
|
4.17.0-beta.1
|
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2026-28781?
Which Craft CMS versions are affected?
What version fixes CVE-2026-28781?
Is craftcms/cms affected?
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-28781?
How can I check Packagist dependencies for CVE-2026-28781?
Machine-readable OSV JSON
OSV v1.5 Schema
{
"schema_version" : "1.4.0",
"id" : "GHSA-2xfc-g69j-x2mp",
"modified" : "2026-03-04T18:39:05Z",
"published" : "2026-03-03T21:00:51Z",
"aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-28781" ],
"summary" : "Craft CMS: Entries Authorship Spoofing via Mass Assignment",
"details" : "## Description\nThe entry creation process allows for **Mass Assignment** of the `authorId` attribute. A user with \"Create Entries\" permission can inject the `authorIds[]` (or `authorId`) parameter into the POST request, which the backend processes without verifying if the current user is authorized to assign authorship to others.\n\nNormally, this field is not present in the request for users without the necessary permissions. By manually adding this parameter, an attacker can attribute the new entry to any user, including Admins. This effectively \"spoofs\" the authorship.\n\n## Proof of Concept\n### Prerequisites\n- A user account with \"Create Entries\" permission for a section.\n- Victim's account ID (e.g., `1` for the default Admin).\n\n### Steps to Reproduce\n1. Log in as the attacker\n1. Navigate to the \"Entries\" section and click \"New Entry\"\n1. Fill in the required fields\n1. Enable a proxy tool (e.g., Burp Suite) to intercept requests\n1. Click \"Save\" & Intercept the request\n1. In the request body, add a new parameter to the body params: `&authorIds[]=<Victim_ID>`\n1. Forward the request\n1. Log in as an admin / as with the victim account\n1. Go to entries & Observe the newly created entry is listed and the author is the victim account, not the actual creator\n\n## Impact\n- A user can create entries that appear to belong to higher-privileged users, potentially bypassing review processes or gaining trust based on false authorship.\n- An attacker could post malicious or inappropriate content attributed to an administrator or other trusted users.\n\n## Resources\n\nhttps://github.com/craftcms/cms/commit/c6dcbdffaf6ab3ffe77d317336684d83699f4542\nhttps://github.com/craftcms/cms/commit/830b403870cd784b47ae42a3f5a16e7ac2d7f5a8",
"severity" : [ {
"type" : "CVSS_V4",
"score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P"
} ],
"affected" : [ {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "Packagist",
"name" : "craftcms/cms"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "5.0.0-RC1"
}, {
"fixed" : "5.9.0-beta.1"
} ]
} ]
}, {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "Packagist",
"name" : "craftcms/cms"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "4.0.0-RC1"
}, {
"fixed" : "4.17.0-beta.1"
} ]
} ]
} ],
"references" : [ {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/craftcms/cms/security/advisories/GHSA-2xfc-g69j-x2mp"
}, {
"type" : "ADVISORY",
"url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-28781"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/craftcms/cms/commit/830b403870cd784b47ae42a3f5a16e7ac2d7f5a8"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/craftcms/cms/commit/c6dcbdffaf6ab3ffe77d317336684d83699f4542"
}, {
"type" : "PACKAGE",
"url" : "https://github.com/craftcms/cms"
} ],
"database_specific" : {
"cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-639", "CWE-915" ],
"severity" : "MODERATE",
"github_reviewed" : true,
"github_reviewed_at" : "2026-03-03T21:00:51Z",
"nvd_published_at" : "2026-03-04T17:16:21Z"
}
}