Executive Summary

CVE-2026-41498 is a vulnerability in the Kimai time-tracking application affecting versions prior to 2.54.0. The issue arises because the Team API endpoints use the annotation #[IsGranted('edit_team')] instead of #[IsGranted('edit', 'team')]. This causes the Symfony TeamVoter component to abstain from voting, effectively removing entity-level ownership checks on team operations.

As a result, any user with the edit_team permission can modify any team, not just the teams they are authorized to manage.

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Impact Analysis

This vulnerability allows users who have been granted the edit_team permission to modify any team within the Kimai application, regardless of whether they are authorized to manage those teams.

• Unauthorized modification of team memberships
• Unauthorized changes to customer assignments
• Unauthorized changes to project assignments
• Unauthorized changes to activity assignments

The impact is limited by the fact that exploitation requires elevated privileges (having the edit_team permission), which is typically granted by an administrator.

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Detection Guidance

This vulnerability involves missing object-level authorization checks in the Kimai Team API endpoints, allowing users with the edit_team permission to modify any team. Detection would involve verifying if your Kimai installation is running a version prior to 2.54.0 and if any user roles have been granted the edit_team permission.

To detect potential exploitation or presence of this vulnerability, you can:

• Check the Kimai version by accessing the application or its deployment metadata to confirm if it is older than 2.54.0.
• Audit user roles and permissions within Kimai to identify any roles granted the edit_team permission.
• Review API access logs for unusual modifications to team entities by users who should not have such access.

Since this is an application-level authorization issue, network-level commands may not directly detect it. However, you can use commands to inspect logs or query the application database for permission assignments and team modifications.

• For example, if you have shell access to the server, you might use commands like `grep 'edit_team' /path/to/kimai/logs/*` to find relevant log entries.
• Use database queries to check user roles and permissions, e.g., `SELECT * FROM user_roles WHERE permission = 'edit_team';` (adjusted to your database schema).

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Mitigation Strategies

The primary mitigation step is to upgrade Kimai to version 2.54.0 or later, where this vulnerability has been patched.

If immediate upgrade is not possible, consider the following temporary mitigations:

• Restrict or remove the edit_team permission from roles that do not require it, especially lower-privilege roles.
• Audit and monitor team modification activities closely to detect unauthorized changes.
• Limit access to the Team API endpoints to trusted users only.

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Compliance Impact

The vulnerability allows users with the edit_team permission to modify any team without proper entity-level ownership checks, potentially leading to unauthorized access or modification of team-related data.

While the CVE description and resources do not explicitly mention compliance with standards such as GDPR or HIPAA, unauthorized modifications to team memberships and assignments could increase the risk of improper data access or handling, which may impact compliance with data protection regulations.

However, since exploitation requires elevated privileges and the severity is rated as Low, the direct impact on compliance frameworks is likely limited but still relevant in environments where strict access controls are mandated.

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