LinkAce: IDOR in Update Policies Allows Any Authenticated User to Overwrite Other Users' Links, Lists, Tags, and Notes
- Published
- Last modified
- Where the record stands: published, rejected by its publisher, or superseded by another id.What do these mean? →
- published
- Whether CISA lists it in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: proof that attackers are using it.What do these mean? →
- Not listed in CISA KEV
- Fix
- Fixed in 2.5.6
- Whether working attack code is public (Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei or GitHub). Public code makes attacks easier.What do these mean? →
- None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub
- Exploitation: poc
- Automatable: no
- Technical impact: partial
Summary
LinkAce is a self-hosted archive to collect website links. Prior to 2.5.6, LinkAce contains an Insecure Direct Object Reference vulnerability in the authorization policy layer that allows any authenticated user to modify resources owned by other users. The affected resource types are links, lists, tags, and notes. Both the web UI and the REST API are vulnerable. The root cause is in the update() methods of all four model policies: LinkPolicy, LinkListPolicy, TagPolicy, and NotePolicy. Each delegates to an access-check method (e.g., userCanAccessLink()) that returns true for any resource with non-private visibility, regardless of who owns it. This means any registered user can edit any public or internal resource across the entire instance. The delete() methods in the same policy files correctly require ownership via $link->user->is($user), which confirms that update was intended to be owner-only. The same flaw exists in the API layer through AuthorizesUserApiActions::userCanUpdateModel(), which mirrors the broken visibility-only check instead of the ownership check used by userCanDeleteModel(). Bulk edit operations via BulkEditController are also affected. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.5.6.
Timeline
- CVE published
- CISA SSVC assessment
Exploitation: poc · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial
- Record last updated
Affected versions
- Kovah LinkAce
fixed in 2.5.6