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Incorrect AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-863

CVE-2024-4447

CRITICAL · 9.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-07-26
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the System → Maintenance tool, the Logged Users tab surfaces sessionId data for all users via the Direct Web Remoting API (UserSessionAjax.getSessionList.dwr) calls. While this is information that would and should be available to admins who possess "Sign In As" powers, admins who otherwise lack this privilege would still be able to utilize the session IDs to imitate other users. While this is a very small attack vector that requires very high permissions to execute, its danger lies principally in obfuscating attribution; all Sign In As operations are attributed appropriately in the log files, and a malicious administrator could use this information to render their dealings untraceable — including those admins who have not been granted this ability — such as by using a session ID to generate an API token. Fixed in: 24.07.12 / 23.01.20 LTS / 23.10.24v13 LTS / 24.04.24v5 LTS This was the original found by researcher Zakaria Agharghar. 2. Later, on October 20, 2025, another researcher (Chris O’Neill) found additional affected DWR Endpoints that are vulnerable to Information Disclosure, namely and in addition to the original found of "UserSessionAjax.getSessionList.dwr - Session ID exposure": * UserAjax.getUsersList.dwr - Enumerate all users with IDs, names, emails * RoleAjax.getUserRole.dwr - Get user role information * RoleAjax.getRole.dwr - Get role details * RoleAjax.getRolePermissions.dwr - View role permissions * RoleAjax.isPermissionableInheriting.dwr - Check permission inheritance * RoleAjax.getCurrentCascadePermissionsJobs.dwr - View permission cascade jobs * ThreadMonitorTool.getThreads.dwr - Monitor system threads; and, * CRITICAL - Privilege Escalation: RoleAjax.saveRolePermission.dwr - Modify role permissions Overall CVSS for the above findings: * CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L * Score: 9.1 (Critical)

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Multiple Direct Web Remoting (DWR) API endpoints in the System Maintenance tool expose sensitive information due to insufficient authorization checks. The original finding (UserSessionAjax.getSessionList.dwr) exposes session IDs allowing privilege escalation, while subsequent findings reveal additional endpoints exposing user data, roles, permissions, and a critical privilege escalation vector through RoleAjax.saveRolePermission.dwr.

MitigationImplement role-based authorization checks on all DWR endpoints to enforce proper access control, ensuring users can only access data and perform actions within their assigned permissions.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify System Maintenance tool is deployed
    Check for the presence of the System Maintenance module in your application. This is typically found in the web application's admin or maintenance section. Search for files or URLs containing 'SystemMaintenance' or 'systemMaintenance'.
    Affected if The System Maintenance tool is installed and accessible in your environment.
  2. Confirm DWR endpoints are accessible
    Test if DWR (Direct Web Remoting) is enabled by attempting to access common DWR endpoints such as /dwr/*.dwr or checking if the DWR servlet is mapped in your web.xml configuration.
    Affected if DWR is enabled and the servlet is accessible without authentication.
  3. Check UserSessionAjax.getSessionList.dwr accessibility
    Attempt an unauthenticated or low-privilege HTTP request to the endpoint UserSessionAjax.getSessionList.dwr. This can be done via curl or browser developer tools: GET /path/to/dwr/call/UserSessionAjax.getSessionList.dwr
    Affected if The endpoint returns session IDs or sensitive session data without requiring elevated privileges.
  4. Check RoleAjax.saveRolePermission.dwr accessibility
    Attempt an unauthenticated or low-privilege HTTP POST request to RoleAjax.saveRolePermission.dwr endpoint to determine if authorization is enforced: POST /path/to/dwr/call/RoleAjax.saveRolePermission.dwr
    Affected if The endpoint allows role or permission modifications without proper authorization checks.
  5. Identify other sensitive DWR endpoints
    Review all DWR endpoints under the System Maintenance tool for endpoints that expose user data, roles, or permissions. Common patterns include RoleAjax, UserAjax, PermissionAjax, or SessionAjax in the endpoint names.
    Affected if Additional DWR endpoints return sensitive user information, roles, or permissions without proper access control.

Your environment is affected if the System Maintenance tool with DWR endpoints is accessible and these specific endpoints (UserSessionAjax.getSessionList.dwr, RoleAjax.saveRolePermission.dwr, or similar) return sensitive data or allow privileged actions without proper authorization enforcement.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement role-based authorization checks on all DWR endpoints to enforce proper access control, ensuring users can only access data and perform actions within their assigned permissions.

Recommended fix High confidence

24.07.12 (or 23.10.24v13 LTS / 23.01.20 LTS for LTS branches)

  1. 1. Identify the current dotCMS version by checking the admin panel or dotmarketing.xml configuration file
  2. 2. Determine which upgrade path is appropriate: if on 24.x, upgrade to 24.07.12 or later; if on 23.x LTS, upgrade to 23.01.20 LTS or 23.10.24v13 LTS; if on 24.04.x, upgrade to 24.04.24v5 LTS or later
  3. 3. Take a complete backup of the database and dotCMS configuration files before upgrading
  4. 4. Follow the official dotCMS upgrade documentation for your specific version jump
  5. 5. After upgrade, verify the fix by attempting to access the vulnerable DWR endpoints (UserSessionAjax.getSessionList.dwr, UserAjax.getUsersList.dwr, RoleAjax.*, ThreadMonitorTool.getThreads.dwr) with a low-privilege admin account that should NOT have access
  6. 6. Confirm that unauthorized admin accounts can no longer enumerate users, view roles/permissions, or modify role permissions via these DWR endpoints
Caveat Review dotCMS release notes for breaking changes between your current version and the target fixed version; LTS-to-LTS upgrades typically have fewer breaking changes

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
56.0 hours of engineering $9,760
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-4447 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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