CVE-2026-85990: Leantime: Any Authenticated User Can Self-Escalate to Admin via Unauthorized JSON-RPC Methods
Leantime is an open source project management system. Prior to 3.10.0, for the provisionally grouped account-creation and plugin-management surfaces, Leantime's JSON-RPC dispatcher in app/Domain/Api/Controllers/Jsonrpc.php exposes public API service methods, while PermissionEnforcer::enforce allows methods that lack a RequiresPermission attribute. A low-privilege authenticated user with an ordinary browser session can send the required X-Requested-With: XMLHttpRequest header and call leantime.rpc.api.api.createApiKeyWithProjects, which reaches Api::createApiKeyWithProjects, with an attacker-chosen role to create an interactive administrator account. The same missing per-method authorization exposes Plugins::installPlugin, Plugins::enablePlugin, Plugins::disablePlugin, and Plugins::removePlugin to ordinary authenticated users, permitting unauthorized plugin management. The complete provisionally grouped issue is fixed in version 3.10.0.
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Upgrade
Upgrade
Leantimeto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 3.10.0
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
Which deployments are exposed?
Leantime deployments running versions earlier than 3.10.0 are affected. Exploitation requires an ordinary authenticated user session, so instances with user accounts available to untrusted or low-privilege users are directly exposed.
What does an attacker need to exploit this issue?
The attacker needs valid low-privilege Leantime credentials and an ordinary browser session. They can send a JSON-RPC request with the X-Requested-With: XMLHttpRequest header and invoke the exposed API method.
What can a successful attacker do?
An authenticated low-privilege user can create an interactive administrator account by choosing an administrator role when calling createApiKeyWithProjects. They can also install, enable, disable, or remove plugins without authorization.
What is the remediation?
Upgrade Leantime to version 3.10.0, which fixes the provisionally grouped account-creation and plugin-management authorization issues.