CVE-2026-42205

Description

### Summary A critical Broken Access Control vulnerability was identified in the `ActionsController` of the Avo framework (v3.x). Due to insecure action lookup logic, an authenticated user can execute any Action class (descendants of `Avo::BaseAction`) on any resource, even if the action is not registered for that specific resource. This leads to Privilege Escalation and unauthorized data manipulation across the entire application. ### Details The vulnerability exists in the `action_class` method within `app/controllers/avo/actions_controller.rb`. #### Vulnerable Code ```ruby def action_class # It searches through ALL descendants of BaseAction without resource validation Avo::BaseAction.descendants.find do |action| action.to_s == params[:action_id] end end ``` The controller identifies the action class to execute solely based on the `params[:action_id]` by searching through all `BaseAction` descendants. It fails to verify whether the requested action is actually permitted or registered for the resource context specified in the request URL (e.g., `/admin/resources/posts/actions`). Consequently, an attacker can invoke sensitive actions (e.g., `Avo::Actions::ToggleAdmin`) through an unrelated resource endpoint (e.g., `Post`), bypassing the intended resource-action mapping. ### Impact This flaw results in significant security risks: - **Privilege Escalation:** An authenticated user with low privileges can execute administrative actions (like toggling admin roles) to escalate their own or others' permissions. - **Unauthorized Operations:** Actions designed for restricted resources can be triggered against any record ID in the database. - **Data Integrity Compromise:** Attackers can perform unauthorized destructive operations (e.g., Delete, Archive, or Update) on records they should not have access to. ### Proof of Concept (PoC) **Steps to Reproduce:** 01. Log in to the Avo admin panel with limited permissions. 02. Identify a target record ID (e.g., User ID: 1) and a sensitive action class (e.g., `Avo::Actions::ToggleAdmin`). 03. Send a POST request to a resource endpoint where the target action is not registered: - **URL:** `POST /admin/resources/posts/actions` - **Payload:** `action_id=Avo::Actions::ToggleAdmin&fields[avo_resource_ids]=1` 04. The server executes the `ToggleAdmin` logic on User 1, even though the request was made through the `posts` resource context. **PoC Script Snippet:** ```python # Simulating the unauthorized action execution data = { 'action_id': 'Avo::Actions::ToggleAdmin', 'fields[avo_resource_ids]': '1', # Target Record ID 'authenticity_token': csrf_token } response = session.post(f"{BASE_URL}/admin/resources/posts/actions", data=data) ``` ### Remediation Restrict the action lookup to only those actions explicitly registered for the current resource context: ```ruby def action_class # Validate that the action is registered for the current resource @resource.get_actions.find do |action| action.to_s == params[:action_id] end end ``` ### Discoverer Illunight