Craft CmsApplication · Craftcms

CVE-2026-32267

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.17.6 / 5.9.12 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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
Craft CMS is a content management system (CMS). From version 4.0.0-RC1 to before version 4.17.6 and from version 5.0.0-RC1 to before version 5.9.12, a low-privilege user (or an unauthenticated user who has been sent a shared URL) can escalate their privileges to admin by abusing UsersController->actionImpersonateWithToken. This issue has been patched in versions 4.17.6 and 5.9.12.

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

Craft CMS contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in UsersController->actionImpersonateWithToken where a low-privilege user or unauthenticated user with a shared URL can obtain admin-level privileges. The vulnerability affects versions 4.0.0-RC1 through 4.17.5 and 5.0.0-RC1 through 5.9.11.

MitigationUpgrade Craft CMS to version 4.17.6 or later, or 5.9.12 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, review and restrict access to the impersonation functionality through web server configuration or access controls.

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
Craft CmsApplication
Affected:>= 4.0.0.1, < 4.17.6>= 5.0.1, < 5.9.12= 4.0.0= 5.0.0

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 installed Craft CMS version
    Locate the composer.json file in your project root and find the 'craftcms/cms' version entry, or log into the admin panel and navigate to Utilities → System Report to view the installed version
    Affected if The installed version falls within 4.0.0-RC1 through 4.17.5, 5.0.0-RC1 through 5.9.11, or matches exactly 4.0.0 or 5.0.0
  2. Confirm user sharing or public registration is active
    In the Craft CMS admin panel, go to Settings → Users → Settings and check whether the 'Allow public registration' or user sharing features are enabled
    Affected if User sharing or public registration is turned on in a vulnerable version
  3. Audit admin-level user accounts
    In the admin panel, navigate to Users → Admins and review all accounts with admin privileges for any unrecognized or recently created accounts
    Affected if There are admin accounts that were not created by your known administrators
  4. Inspect server access logs for impersonation endpoint activity
    Search your web server access logs (typically in /var/log/apache2 or /var/log/nginx) for requests to paths such as /users/impersonate-with-token or any unusual /users controller actions
    Affected if Unrecognized or suspicious requests to the impersonation functionality appear in the logs

You are affected if your Craft CMS version is within the vulnerable ranges AND user sharing or public registration features are enabled, allowing the impersonation token flaw to be exploited.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.17.6 / 5.9.12 or later
Fixed in 4.17.65.9.12
Vendor patch github.com →
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Craft CMS to version 4.17.6 or later, or 5.9.12 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, review and restrict access to the impersonation functionality through web server configuration or access controls.

Recommended fix High confidence

Craft CMS 4.17.6 or 5.9.12 (depending on your major version)

  1. Backup your Craft CMS database and files before upgrading
  2. Ensure you have a recent database backup
  3. Upgrade to Craft CMS 4.17.6 if you are on the 4.x line
  4. Upgrade to Craft CMS 5.9.12 if you are on the 5.x line
  5. After upgrading, verify that the UsersController->actionImpersonateWithToken endpoint properly validates authorization
  6. Test that low-privilege users cannot escalate to admin privileges
  7. Clear any caches after upgrading (Craft CP -> Utilities -> Clear Caches)
Caveat Patch releases within the same minor version typically have minimal breaking changes; if upgrading between major versions (4.x to 5.x), review the migration guide for breaking changes

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

Fix this in Craft Cms Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-32267 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-32267 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data