dbcve.org
FlagforgeApplication

CVE-2025-59827

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-24
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 No privileges 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
Flag Forge is a Capture The Flag (CTF) platform. In version 2.1.0, the /api/admin/assign-badge endpoint lacks proper access control, allowing any authenticated user to assign high-privilege badges (e.g., Staff) to themselves. This could lead to privilege escalation and impersonation of administrative roles. This issue has been patched in version 2.2.0.

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

The /api/admin/assign-badge endpoint in Flag Forge 2.1.0 implements insufficient authorization checks, allowing any authenticated user to assign high-privilege badges (such as Staff) to their own account. This Broken Access Control vulnerability enables privilege escalation by exploiting the admin-tier badge assignment functionality without actually possessing admin privileges.

MitigationUpgrade to Flag Forge version 2.2.0 which contains the patch addressing this access control vulnerability.

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

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
FlagforgeApplication
Affected:= 2.1.0

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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. Identify Flag Forge platform version
    Check the installed version of Flag Forge CTF platform by inspecting the application metadata, package.json, or the admin dashboard about/page. Look for version number 2.1.0 specifically.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 2.1.0
  2. Verify /api/admin/assign-badge endpoint exists
    Make a GET or POST request to the /api/admin/assign-badge endpoint using a tool like curl or browser DevTools. Check if the endpoint responds (even with an error) rather than returning a 404.
    Affected if The endpoint exists and responds to requests, indicating the vulnerable endpoint is present
  3. Test access control on admin badge endpoint
    Authenticate as a regular non-admin user and attempt to make a POST request to /api/admin/assign-badge with a payload that assigns a high-privilege badge like 'Staff' or 'Admin' to the current user account. Observe if the request succeeds.
    Affected if A non-administrative authenticated user can successfully call the endpoint and assign themselves privileged badges
  4. Check for unauthorized badge assignments in logs
    Review application logs, audit logs, or database records for badge assignment events where regular users assigned themselves Staff or administrative badges through the /api/admin/assign-badge endpoint.
    Affected if There are records of non-admin users successfully assigning themselves high-privilege badges

You are affected if Flag Forge version 2.1.0 is installed AND the /api/admin/assign-badge endpoint permits privilege escalation by allowing any authenticated user to assign themselves administrative-level badges.

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

Upgrade to Flag Forge version 2.2.0 which contains the patch addressing this access control vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

2.2.0

  1. Back up your current Flagforge installation and database before upgrading
  2. Obtain Flagforge version 2.2.0 from the official GitHub repository (github.com/flagforge/flagforge or similar)
  3. Upgrade your Flagforge installation from version 2.1.0 to version 2.2.0 following the project's upgrade documentation
  4. Verify that the /api/admin/assign-badge endpoint now properly enforces authorization checks
  5. Confirm that only users with admin privileges can assign badges, and regular users receive 403 Forbidden or similar authorization errors when attempting to access the endpoint

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

Fix this in Flagforge Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,800
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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-2025-59827 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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