Executive brief
reNgine is an automated reconnaissance framework used by penetration testers to gather security intelligence on web applications. This vulnerability allows any authenticated user with low-privilege roles to bypass authorization checks and read sensitive configuration files containing third-party API keys (SecurityTrails, Shodan, Censys, VirusTotal, BinaryEdge, Hunter). An attacker with basic user access could extract these API credentials to access external security scanning services or resell them.
Technical details
The GetFileContents API endpoint in reNgine through version 2.2.0 fails to enforce role-based access controls, allowing any authenticated user to read arbitrary bundled recon tool configuration files. The vulnerability is a missing authorization check (CWE-639) rather than an authentication bypass—the endpoint verifies the user is logged in but does not validate their privilege level before granting file access. Attack preconditions include valid authentication credentials (any user account, including low-privilege Auditor roles). An attacker can query the endpoint without proper permission checks to extract files containing API keys for multiple third-party reconnaissance services. A patch or update to version 2.2.1 or later is expected to address this by implementing proper role-based authorization.
Affected products
- yogeshojha reNgine through 2.2.0
Timeline
- 2026-09-16: disclosed