Executive brief
Frauscher FDS102 is a diagnostic system for railway signaling equipment. A low-privileged attacker with valid access to the web interface can create new user accounts with administrator privileges by manipulating the /api/user/add.php endpoint, bypassing normal authorization controls. This allows an attacker to escalate from low to highest privileges without administrative approval or knowledge.
Technical details
This is an incorrect authorization vulnerability (CWE-863) in the user account creation API endpoint (/api/user/add.php). The vulnerability allows an authenticated attacker with low privileges to submit requests that create new user accounts with arbitrary role values, including the highest privilege level, due to inadequate authorization checks on role assignment. The attack requires a valid session (authentication is enforced), but the application fails to validate that the authenticated user has the right to assign elevated roles. An attacker can exploit this to create new administrative accounts and gain full system compromise. The vendor recommends updating to FDS102 v2.14.0 or later.
Affected products
- Frauscher Sensortechnik GmbH FDS102 2.0.0 through 2.13.3
Timeline
- 2026-08-20: disclosed
- 2026-08-25: advisory