Is CVE-2026-52824 exploited in the wild?

No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-52824 being exploited in the wild.

How severe is CVE-2026-52824?

Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 4, published 15 September 2026.

Which products and versions are affected?

Kimai <= 2.57.0; kimai/kimai (Packagist) <= 2.57.0, ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=2.58.0.

Is there a fix for CVE-2026-52824?

Yes. kimai/kimai (Packagist): upgrade to 2.58.0 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

How is CVE-2026-52824 attacked?

It is attacked over the network, in a network appliance.

Am I affected by CVE-2026-52824?

Check whether you run Kimai or kimai/kimai (Packagist) 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.

CVE-2026-52824: Kimai insecure default APP_SECRET in Docker image

Q: Which products and versions are affected?

Kimai <= 2.57.0; kimai/kimai (Packagist) <= 2.57.0, ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=2.58.0.

Q: Is there a fix for CVE-2026-52824?

Yes. kimai/kimai (Packagist): upgrade to 2.58.0 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

Q: How is CVE-2026-52824 attacked?

It is attacked over the network, in a network appliance.

Q: Am I affected by CVE-2026-52824?

Check whether you run Kimai or kimai/kimai (Packagist) 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.

CVE-2026-52824 · Severity: critical · CVSS 4 · Published 2026-09-15

Kimai is an open-source time-tracking application. A security vulnerability exists in its official Docker deployment where a publicly known secret key is used by default. An attacker can use this known key to forge authentication credentials and take over any user account, including administrative accounts, potentially leading to full data exposure and service compromise.

Technologies: Kimai, kimai/kimai (Packagist). Vendors: Kimai, Packagist.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-52824 exploited in the wild?: No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-52824 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-52824?: Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 4, published 15 September 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?: Kimai <= 2.57.0; kimai/kimai (Packagist) <= 2.57.0, ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=2.58.0.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-52824?: Yes. kimai/kimai (Packagist): upgrade to 2.58.0 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-52824 attacked?: It is attacked over the network, in a network appliance.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-52824?: Check whether you run Kimai or kimai/kimai (Packagist) 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

kimai/kimai (Packagist): upgrade to 2.58.0 or later
```
composer require kimai/kimai:^2.58.0
```

Technical details

The official Kimai Docker image ships with a hardcoded default environment variable 'APP_SECRET=change_this_to_something_unique'. This value is used as the Symfony 'kernel.secret' to HMAC-sign sensitive tokens, including 'KIMAI_REMEMBER' cookies, LoginLink signatures, password reset URLs, and CSRF tokens. Because the Docker entrypoint does not validate or force a change to this secret, an unauthenticated remote attacker can forge these signatures. By combining the known secret with predictable sequential User IDs, an attacker can gain unauthorized access to any account that does not have 2FA enabled. The issue is fixed in version 2.58.0 by removing the default secret and implementing automatic secret generation in the entrypoint script.

Affected products

Kimai Kimai <= 2.57.0

Identifiers

CVE-2026-52824
GHSA-jr9p-4h4j-6c58

Timeline

2026-06-11: disclosed
2026-07-14: advisory
2026-07-14: patched

References

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