Incorrect Privilege AssignmentWeakness · CWE-266

CVE-2026-15509

MEDIUM · 6.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click 5 weeks old

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
A vulnerability has been found in Leantime up to 3.8.0. This impacts the function editUser/addUser of the component JSON-RPC Endpoint. The manipulation of the argument role leads to improper authorization. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. The vendor was contacted early about this disclosure but did not respond in any way.

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 · moderate confidence

Improper authorization vulnerability in Leantime's JSON-RPC endpoint allows remote attackers to manipulate the 'role' argument in editUser/addUser functions to gain unauthorized access or elevate privileges beyond what their account should permit.

MitigationImplement proper role-based access control (RBAC) validation in the JSON-RPC endpoint before allowing role modifications. Restrict access to the JSON-RPC user management functions until a vendor patch is available.

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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/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. Identify Leantime installation
    Check for Leantime application files in your web root (typically in a /leantime or similar directory, or check for leantime-specific files like index.php with Leantime branding)
    Affected if Leantime is present in the environment
  2. Determine Leantime version
    Locate the version file or check the source code for a VERSION constant; common locations include /src/version.php, a VERSION file in the root directory, or the composer.json file
    Affected if Installed version matches or precedes the vulnerable range (check vendor advisory for specific version numbers)
  3. Verify JSON-RPC endpoint is exposed
    Check if the JSON-RPC endpoint is accessible at /api/json-rpc or similar paths (inspect web server configuration for routes matching api/*, json-rpc*, or rpc* patterns)
    Affected if The JSON-RPC endpoint is reachable over the network without additional authentication barriers
  4. Confirm user management functions are enabled
    Inspect the JSON-RPC service configuration or API routing to confirm editUser and addUser functions are registered and active (look for routes handling user creation/modification in the API module)
    Affected if editUser/addUser functions are available in the JSON-RPC API
  5. Check authorization controls on user role modification
    Review the JSON-RPC handler code for editUser/addUser to verify if role parameter validation occurs; grep for role authorization logic in the relevant API controller files
    Affected if No server-side role validation exists before allowing role parameter changes in user management functions

Your environment is affected if you are running a vulnerable Leantime version with the JSON-RPC endpoint exposed and user management functions accessible without proper role-based authorization checks on the role parameter.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement proper role-based access control (RBAC) validation in the JSON-RPC endpoint before allowing role modifications. Restrict access to the JSON-RPC user management functions until a vendor patch is available.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2026-15509 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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