dbcve.org
Information ExposureWeakness · CWE-200

CVE-2026-45332

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Automad is a flat-file content management system and template engine. From 2.0.0-alpha.1 to 2.0.0-beta.27, a Broken Access Control vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to retrieve the bcrypt password hash of every administrator account with a single POST request. The /_api/user-collection/create-first-user setup endpoint remains publicly accessible once initial configuration is complete and returns full serialized user data in the JSON response body. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.0.0-beta.28.

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

In Automad versions 2.0.0-alpha.1 through 2.0.0-beta.27, the /_api/user-collection/create-first-user endpoint remains publicly accessible after initial setup is complete. An unauthenticated attacker can send a POST request to this endpoint and receive full serialized user data including bcrypt password hashes for all administrator accounts.

MitigationUpgrade to Automad 2.0.0-beta.28 or later to patch the vulnerability. As a precautionary measure, consider rotating all administrator passwords since hashes may have been exfiltrated.

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

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

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 Automad installation
    Check your web server for Automad files - look for a directory containing 'automad' and a 'core' folder. Common paths include /var/www/html/automad or similar web root locations.
    Affected if Automad is installed on the server
  2. Determine Automad version
    Open the file 'core/boot.php' or 'automad/version' and check the version string. Compare it to the affected range: 2.0.0-alpha.1 through 2.0.0-beta.27.
    Affected if Version is 2.0.0-alpha.1, 2.0.0-alpha.2, 2.0.0-beta.x (where x is 1-27), or 2.0.0-rc versions below beta.28
  3. Verify initial setup is complete
    Check if the 'users' database or user configuration file exists and contains at least one administrator account. The vulnerability only exposes hashes after the first user has been created during setup.
    Affected if At least one user account has been created in Automad (initial setup is complete)
  4. Test endpoint accessibility
    Send a curl POST request to yourdomain.com/_api/user-collection/create-first-user with an empty or minimal payload, e.g., curl -X POST https://yourdomain.com/_api/user-collection/create-first-user -d '{}'. Check if the endpoint returns user data or password hashes.
    Affected if The endpoint responds with HTTP 200 and returns user data including password hashes

You are affected if Automad version is between 2.0.0-alpha.1 and 2.0.0-beta.27 inclusive AND the initial setup has been completed (at least one user exists), allowing unauthenticated access to the vulnerable endpoint.

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 Automad 2.0.0-beta.28 or later to patch the vulnerability. As a precautionary measure, consider rotating all administrator passwords since hashes may have been exfiltrated.

Recommended fix High confidence

2.0.0-beta.28

  1. Backup the Automad installation and database/files before proceeding
  2. Upgrade Automad from version 2.0.0-alpha.1 through 2.0.0-beta.27 to version 2.0.0-beta.28 or later
  3. After upgrading, verify that the /_api/user-collection/create-first-user endpoint is no longer publicly accessible and returns an appropriate authorization error
  4. Confirm that user data is no longer exposed in API responses to unauthenticated requests

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
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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-2026-45332 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data