CVE-2025-66289
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 · uneditedOrangeHRM is a comprehensive human resource management (HRM) system. From version 5.0 to 5.7, the application does not invalidate existing sessions when a user is disabled or when a password change occurs, allowing active session cookies to remain valid indefinitely. As a result, a disabled user, or an attacker using a compromised account, can continue to access protected pages and perform operations as long as a prior session remains active. Because the server performs no session revocation or session-store cleanup during these critical state changes, disabling an account or updating credentials has no effect on already-established sessions. This makes administrative disable actions ineffective and allows unauthorized users to retain full access even after an account is closed or a password is reset, exposing the system to prolonged unauthorized use and significantly increasing the impact of account takeover scenarios. This issue has been patched in version 5.8.
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 confidenceOrangeHRM versions 5.0-5.7 fail to invalidate active sessions when a user account is disabled or when a password is changed. Session cookies remain valid indefinitely because the server performs no session revocation or cleanup during these critical state changes, allowing disabled users or attackers with compromised credentials to retain full system access.
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>= 5.0, < 5.8CVSS 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
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed OrangeHRM versionAccess the OrangeHRM admin dashboard and navigate to About page (typically under Admin > Configuration > About) or check the version file in the installation directory (such as version.php or package.json in the root directory)Affected if The installed version is 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, or 5.7 (any version >= 5.0 and < 5.8)
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Locate session storageInspect the OrangeHRM configuration files (such as config.php or parameters.yml) to identify where sessions are stored - either database tables or file-based sessions in the filesystemAffected if Sessions are stored in a location that can be queried or inspected for active sessions
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Query active sessions for disabled usersIf sessions are database-backed, query the session table (commonly named something like ohrm_session, user_session, or similar) and cross-reference with the user table to identify sessions belonging to users whose account_status is 'disabled' or is_enabled equals falseAffected if Active session records exist for users who have been disabled in the system
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Query active sessions after password changeIdentify a test user, record their current session, change their password via admin panel, then check if the original session remains active by attempting to use the stored session identifierAffected if The original session remains valid and usable after the password has been changed
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Verify session invalidation on user disableCreate a test user, log in to establish an active session, disable the user via admin panel, then attempt to use the existing session cookie/token to access the systemAffected if The disabled user account can still access the application using the session established before being disabled
You are affected if your OrangeHRM version is 5.0 through 5.7 AND you can confirm that disabled users or users who changed passwords retain active sessions in the system.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped5.8
Upgrade to OrangeHRM version 5.8 or later, which contains the patch for proper session invalidation on account disable and password change events.
5.8
- 1. Back up the OrangeHRM database and application files before upgrading
- 2. Download OrangeHRM version 5.8 or the latest stable release from the official source (orangehrm.com)
- 3. Follow the official upgrade instructions to install the new version
- 4. Verify the upgrade was successful by logging in and checking the system version
- 5. Test session invalidation by: creating a test user, establishing a session, disabling the user account or changing the password, and confirming the existing session can no longer access protected resources
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation20.0 h
- Testing10.0 h
- Review / QA5.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-66289 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-66289 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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