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KO
MEDIUM

GHSA-xxpx-f366-4xpq

Craft CMS:Authorization bypass: view-only Categories user can modify category structure via structures/move-element

Quick fix

GHSA-xxpx-f366-4xpq — craftcms/cms: upgrade to the fixed version with the command below.

composer require craftcms/cms:^5.10.6

Details

A control-panel user who holds only the viewCategories permission for a category group (and not saveCategories) can permanently modify that group's category structure — reordering and re-parenting categories via the structures/move-element action.

A read-time authorization grant that a write endpoint later trusts. For categories, the structureEditable flag is computed from the view permission (`src/elements/Category.php:205`) instead of the save permission (entries correctly use saveEntries — `src/elements/Entry.php:341`). When the read-only category index renders, `craft\base\Element::indexHtml()` calls `Craft::$app->getSession()->authorize('editStructure:<structureId>');` StructuresController then authorizes the structure-mutating action solely on that session grant, with no canSave re-check.

Verified on Craft CMS 5.10.5. Same class as the moderate-severity authorization bypasses fixed in 5.10.3 and 5.10.5; this is a distinct, unpatched instance.

## Impact

A low-privileged, authenticated user (view-only on a category group) can persistently alter the sibling ordering and parent/child nesting of the category taxonomy. Because a category’s URI is derived from its position in the structure (ancestor slugs), moving a category changes its URL and the URLs of its descendants, and can corrupt any navigation/menus built from the category tree. This is an integrity/broken access-control issue: content that the user has no permission to modify is being modified. No confidentiality impact and no RCE; scope is content/taxonomy integrity.

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Affected packages

Packagist / craftcms/cms
Introduced in: 5.0.0-RC1 Fixed in: 5.10.6
Fix composer require craftcms/cms:^5.10.6

References