Executive brief
Automad, a content management system used for building websites, contains a security flaw that allows anyone on the internet to download the encrypted passwords of all administrator accounts. By sending a single request to a setup endpoint that was mistakenly left open, an attacker can obtain password hashes and, in some versions, two-factor authentication (TOTP) secrets. This could lead to full account takeover if an attacker is able to crack the passwords or bypass security measures, potentially resulting in unauthorized website changes or data theft.
Technical details
A broken access control vulnerability exists in Automad's API due to the '/_api/user-collection/create-first-user' endpoint remaining publicly accessible after initial setup. The 'createFirstUser' method in 'UserCollectionController.php' fails to verify if a user already exists before processing requests and returning serialized user data. Because the 'User' class implements a '__serialize' method that includes 'passwordHash' and 'totpSecret' (in version 2.0.0-beta.27), an unauthenticated remote attacker can trigger a POST request to this endpoint to receive the bcrypt hashes of all administrators and their TOTP secrets. This allows for offline brute-force attacks and 2FA bypass. The issue is resolved in version 2.0.0-beta.28.
Affected products
- Automad Automad 2.0.0-alpha.1 to 2.0.0-beta.27
Timeline
- 2026-05-09: advisory: GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-xm76-r88j-vm3g published
- 2026-05-28: disclosed: CVE-2026-45332 published to NVD
- 2026-05-28: patched: Vulnerability fixed in version 2.0.0-beta.28