# CVE-2025-48042: Ash Framework Incorrect Authorization in Bulk Action Hooks

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2025-48042-ash-framework-incorrect-authorization-in-bulk-action-hooks  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2025-09-07. Updated: 2026-07-24  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2025-48042 · Severity: info · CVSS 7.1 · Published 2025-09-07

Ash is a framework for building applications in the Elixir programming language. A security flaw in how it handles bulk data operations (like creating or updating many records at once) could allow a user to trigger certain background tasks even if they do not have permission to perform the overall action. While the unauthorized action itself will still fail and block data access, the background tasks could perform expensive operations or cause unintended side effects before the system stops the request.

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2025-48042 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2025-48042 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2025-48042?** Informational severity, with a CVSS score of 7.1, published 7 September 2025.

**Which products and versions are affected?** ash-project ash 0.1.0 to 3.5.38.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2025-48042?** A patch was published on 2025-09-07: Fixed in version 3.5.39 Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2025-48042 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a software library.

**Am I affected by CVE-2025-48042?** Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## Technical details

An incorrect authorization vulnerability exists in the Ash framework's bulk action logic (create, update, and destroy). When a bulk action is invoked that contains a 'before_transaction' hook but lacks an 'after_transaction' hook, the framework executes the hook before performing authorization checks. An authenticated attacker with network access can trigger these hooks despite receiving a 'Forbidden' error for the overall request. This can lead to the execution of side-effectful or resource-intensive operations defined within the hooks. The issue is rooted in the execution order within 'lib/ash/actions/create/bulk.ex', 'lib/ash/actions/destroy/bulk.ex', and 'lib/ash/actions/update/bulk.ex'. The vulnerability is addressed in version 3.5.39.

## Affected products

- ash-project ash 0.1.0 to 3.5.38

## Timeline

- 2025-09-06: advisory: GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-jj4j-x5ww-cwh9 published
- 2025-09-07: disclosed: CVE-2025-48042 published
- 2025-09-07: patched: Fixed in version 3.5.39

## References

- [https://repo.hex.pm/](https://repo.hex.pm/)
- [https://github.com/](https://github.com/)
- [https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2025-48042.html](https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2025-48042.html)
- [https://github.com/ash-project/ash/commit/5d1b6a5d00771fd468a509778637527b5218be9a](https://github.com/ash-project/ash/commit/5d1b6a5d00771fd468a509778637527b5218be9a)
- [https://github.com/ash-project/ash/security/advisories/GHSA-jj4j-x5ww-cwh9](https://github.com/ash-project/ash/security/advisories/GHSA-jj4j-x5ww-cwh9)