CVE-2026-48088
Received Received - Intake

Unauthenticated Key Injection in OpenReception Appointment Software

Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-48088, including description, CVSS score, EPSS score, affected products, exploitability, helpful resources, and attack-flow context.

Publication date: 2026-08-06

Last updated on: 2026-08-06

Assigner: GitHub, Inc.

Description

OpenReception's appointment booking software provides an end-to-end encrypted appointment booking platform. Prior to version 1.0.4, the route `POST /api/tenants/{tenantId}/staff/{staffId}/crypto` accepts and stores attacker-controlled ML-KEM-768 public keys against any tenant on the platform without authentication. The handler logs an "Unauthorized crypto key storage attempt" warning when neither a session nor a registration cookie is present, then proceeds to insert the row regardless. The platform's E2E claim that "even administrators cannot view sensitive information" is broken: any unauthenticated network attacker can register themselves as an additional encryption recipient for any tenant's future patient appointments. A second variant of the bug suppresses the unauthorized-warning log entry. The Zod schema makes the `email` field optional. When the request body omits `email` and the request carries no registration cookie, the comparison `registrationEmail === email` becomes `undefined === undefined`, which evaluates to `true`. The handler treats the request as a legitimate registration flow, skips the warning entirely, and stores the row. Successful storage is still recorded as an `[info]` log line, but the security-relevant warning that operators are most likely to monitor or alert on is gone. The `staff_crypto` table has no unique constraint on `user_id`, so an arbitrary number of attacker rows can coexist for the same staff identifier and all return as `is_active=true`. The supplied `staffId` does not need to match any existing user or pending invite. Schema validation on `passkeyId`, `publicKey`, and `privateKeyShare` is also weak: the literal string `<placeholder-base64>` was accepted, indicating no length, format, or cryptographic-validity check beyond field presence. This weakness is independent of the auth bypass but compounds it: a poisoned directory can also be filled with malformed entries that break legitimate booking flows. The injected key is consumed by the public booking flow. After completing the unauthenticated `bootstrap-challenge` and `bootstrap-verify` ceremony as a "patient", the resulting `bookingAccessToken` is accepted by `GET /api/tenants/{id}/appointments/staff-public-keys`, which returns the attacker-controlled keys alongside any legitimate ones. A new appointment encrypts its tunnel key with ML-KEM to all listed recipients, so the attacker becomes a co-recipient of the encryption and can decapsulate the tunnel key with the matching secret. From there, all appointment payloads for that booking are decryptable. Version 1.0.4 patches the issue.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

Probability:
Percentile:

Meta Information

Published
2026-08-06
Last Modified
2026-08-06
Generated
2026-08-07
AI Q&A
2026-08-07
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
openreception appointment_booking_software to 1.0.4 (exc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
CWE Icon
KEV
KEV Icon
CWE ID Description
CWE-862 The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.

Attack-Flow Graph

AI Quick Actions

Instant insights powered by AI
Executive Summary

This vulnerability in OpenReception's appointment booking software allows unauthenticated attackers to register themselves as encryption recipients for any tenant's appointments. The flaw exists in the route handling public key storage, which accepts attacker-controlled keys without proper validation or authentication. Attackers can bypass security checks by omitting the email field, suppressing warning logs, and exploiting weak schema validation for cryptographic keys.

Detection Guidance

Check for unauthorized POST requests to /api/tenants/{tenantId}/staff/{staffId}/crypto without authentication. Inspect logs for 'Unauthorized crypto key storage attempt' warnings or [info] log entries indicating key storage. Verify the staff_crypto table for duplicate user_id entries or malformed keys like '<placeholder-base64>'.

Impact Analysis

If you use OpenReception's software before version 1.0.4, an attacker could intercept and decrypt all future appointment data for any tenant, including sensitive patient information. This could lead to unauthorized access to confidential data, privacy breaches, and potential misuse of personal or medical records.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability likely violates GDPR and HIPAA requirements for data protection and access controls. It enables unauthorized access to sensitive personal or health data, which could result in regulatory penalties, legal liabilities, and loss of trust in the software's security claims.

Mitigation Strategies

Upgrade to version 1.0.4 or later of OpenReception's appointment booking software. Review and remove any unauthorized keys from the staff_crypto table. Implement strict schema validation for publicKey, privateKeyShare, and passkeyId fields. Add unique constraints on user_id in the staff_crypto table.

Chat Assistant

Ask questions about this CVE
Hi! I’m here to help you understand CVE-2026-48088. Ask me anything about the vulnerability, its impact, or mitigation strategies.
0/70

EPSS Chart