Critical 9.1Published Sep 15, 2026

CVE-2026-52824Kimai: Default APP_SECRET in Docker Image Enables Cookie Forgery and Account Takeover

Updated under an hour ago (2026-10-19 08:50 UTC)

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No exploitation reported and no EPSS estimate yet.

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Every CVE for kimai

Exploited in the last 30 days

Kimai is an open-source time tracking application. Prior to 2.58.0, the official Docker image sets APP_SECRET to the public value change_this_to_something_unique in Dockerfile, and .docker/entrypoint.sh neither replaces nor rejects that value before Symfony uses it as kernel.secret. An unauthenticated attacker who reaches a deployment that did not override APP_SECRET, knows a username, correctly guesses the account ID associated with that username, and targets an account without active two-factor authentication can forge HMAC-protected authentication artifacts, including KIMAI_REMEMBER cookies and login links, to access the account without its password. The updated entrypoint generates and persists a random secret when no safe operator-provided value exists. This issue is fixed in version 2.58.0.

CVSS: 9.1 CRITICAL (v4.0, CNA)CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Weakness (CWE): CWE-1188
Known exploited: Not in CISA's KEV catalog
EPSS (exploitation in the next 30 days): Not loaded for this CVE
Assigned by: GitHub_M
NVD analysis: Deferred
Record last updated: Sep 16, 2026
First seen by InfoSec Signals: Oct 9, 2026

Affected products

Affected products

kimai kimai kimai:kimai (from the name)	before 2.58.0	CNA record

References

https://github.com/kimai/kimai/security/advisories/GHSA-jr9p-4h4j-6c58x-refsource-confirm
https://github.com/kimai/kimai/pull/5952x-refsource-misc
https://github.com/kimai/kimai/commit/31a8f887a5cda517db7b4320a7ad997c87d08601x-refsource-misc
https://github.com/kimai/kimai/releases/tag/2.58.0x-refsource-misc
https://www.kimai.org/en/security/ghsa-jr9p-4h4j-6c58x-refsource-misc

The CVE record on cve.org NVD's entry

The CVE record is authoritative. Products marked “from the name” were identified from the CNA's free-text names, not a CPE, and are matched less certainly. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.