CVE-2026-52824

CRITICALPre-NVD 9.19.1—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

This critical-severity CVE scores 9.1 under a secondary CVSS source (NVD's own analysis pending). EPSS exploit probability: 2.1%, top 20% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).

Triggered by: NVD CVSS baseline
Sources: epss, secondary
Trending — 3 sources updated this weekElevated
9.1EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 2%CVSS: 9.1Exploit: Elevated riskExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

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 v3
9.1
EG Score
9.1(medium)
EG Risk
57(Track)
EG Risk 57/100SSVC: Track

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity91% × 45%
Exploitation40% × 40%
Automatability0% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS PROB
2%
EPSS %ILE
80%
KEV
Not listed

Published

July 14, 2026

Last Modified

September 16, 2026

Advisory Details (5)

Auto-updated Sep 15, 2026
🔬 Proof of concept available. Patch available. Sources: github_commit, github_pr, github_release, github.
generic

Docker installations using the default secret key could be taken over by attackers – Kimai

https://www.kimai.org/en/security/ghsa-jr9p-4h4j-6c58
github Patch Available🟡 PoC Available

Default APP_SECRET in Docker Image Enables Cookie Forgery and Account Takeover · Advisory · kimai/kimai · GitHub

https://github.com/kimai/kimai/security/advisories/GHSA-jr9p-4h4j-6c58
github_release Patch Available

2.58.0

Patch available: kimai/kimai 2.58.0

https://github.com/kimai/kimai/releases/tag/2.58.0
github_pr Patch Available

Release 2.58

Patch available: kimai/kimai 2.58.0 (PR #5952 merged 2026-05-25)

https://github.com/kimai/kimai/pull/5952
github_commit Patch Available

commit 31a8f887a5cd (kimai/kimai)

Patch available: kimai/kimai 2.58.0 (contains commit 31a8f887a5cd)

https://github.com/kimai/kimai/commit/31a8f887a5cda517db7b4320a7ad997c87d08601

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2026-52824(1)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Affected Packages

(1 across 1 ecosystem)
Packagist(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
kimai/kimai0.1 ... 2.9.0 (203 versions)2.58.0—

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 9× in last 7d / 9× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-09-18 19:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-09-18 04:59 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-09-16 18:27 UTCEG score recompute
  4. 2026-09-16 17:53 UTCEG score recompute
  5. 2026-09-16 14:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-09-16 05:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-09-15 11:29 UTCEG score recompute
  8. 2026-09-15 10:50 UTCEG score recompute▲ 9.10
  9. 2026-09-15 10:47 UTCMITRE cvelistV5CVSS v3 → 9.1 · CVSS v4 → 9.1
  10. 2026-07-31 22:10 UTCEG score recompute
  11. 2026-07-26 11:50 UTCEG score recompute
  12. 2026-07-23 03:19 UTCEG score recompute
  13. 2026-07-14 00:25 UTCEG score recompute

Publicly available exploits

(1 reference)

Working exploit code is in the public domain. Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • Nucleihttp/cves/2026/CVE-2026-52824.yaml
    First seen Jan 1, 2026

    Kimai <= 2.57.0 - Default APP_SECRET Authentication Bypass

    Open source ↗

Related CVEs(same CWE)

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2026-52824?
CVE-2026-52824 is a critical vulnerability published on July 14, 2026. Kimai is an open-source time tracking application. Prior to 2.58.0, the official Docker image sets APPSECRET to the public value changethistosomethingunique in Dockerfile, and .docker/entrypoint.sh neither replaces nor rejects that value before Symfony uses it as kernel.secret. An unauthenticated…
When was CVE-2026-52824 disclosed?
CVE-2026-52824 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on July 14, 2026, with the most recent update on September 16, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2026-52824 actively exploited?
CVE-2026-52824 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 19.5% of all scored CVEs.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-52824?
CVE-2026-52824 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.1 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2026-52824?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2026-52824, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

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