# CVE-2026-124487: OpenEMR improper authorization in FHIR DocumentReference $docref

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-124487-openemr-before-8-4-0-contains-an-improper-authorization  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-11-08. Updated: 2026-11-08  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-124487 · Severity: medium · CVSS 6.5 · Published 2026-11-08

OpenEMR is an open-source electronic health record system used by healthcare providers to manage patient clinical data. A vulnerability in its FHIR API allows staff users with only basic demographics and documents permissions to generate and download clinical documents (CCDA files) for any patient, not just those they should have access to, enabling unauthorized access to sensitive patient medical records.

Technologies: [OpenEMR](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/openemr-openemr). Vendors: [OpenEMR](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/openemr).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-124487 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-124487 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-124487?** Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 6.5, published 8 November 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** OpenEMR before 8.4.0.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-124487?** Yes: fixed in 8.4.0. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2026-124487 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a web application.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-124487?** Check whether you run OpenEMR at an affected version. 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.

## How to fix

- Fixed in 8.4.0

## Technical details

An improper authorization flaw in the non-patient POST /fhir/DocumentReference/$docref route fails to properly validate patient context, allowing authenticated users with only patients/demo permissions to supply an arbitrary patient parameter and trigger generation of that patient's full clinical CCDA. The generated document is persisted with permissive ACLs (patients|docs), allowing immediate retrieval by the same low-privileged user, enabling cross-patient PHI exfiltration at scale.

## Affected products

- OpenEMR OpenEMR before 8.4.0

## Timeline

- 2026-09-13: disclosed: GitHub Security Advisory published
- 2026-11-08: advisory: Published to NVD

## References

- [https://github.com/openemr/openemr/security/advisories/GHSA-r79c-4hf6-fgp3](https://github.com/openemr/openemr/security/advisories/GHSA-r79c-4hf6-fgp3)
- [https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openemr-before-8.4.0-improper-authorization-in-fhir-documentreference-docref](https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openemr-before-8.4.0-improper-authorization-in-fhir-documentreference-docref)

## Related threats

- [OpenEMR path traversal in oe-module-faxsms disposeDocument](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-124490-openemr-before-8-3-0-contains-a-path-traversal-vulnerability-in)
- [OpenEMR broken access control in portal payment processing](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-124489-openemr-before-8-3-0-contains-a-broken-access-control)
- [OpenEMR authorization bypass in encounter form loaders](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-124488-openemr-before-8-3-0-contains-an-authorization-bypass)
- [OpenEMR missing authorization in classic document controller](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-124486-openemr-before-8-3-0-contains-a-missing-authorization)
- [OpenEMR authorization bypass in patient portal onsitedocuments API](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-124485-openemr-before-8-3-0-contains-an-authorization-bypass)