# CVE-2026-24039: Horilla's Improper Access Control Allows Employees to Auto-Approve Documents

> Low-privileged employees can self-approve their own uploaded documents due to missing server-side authorization checks, compromising HR process integrity.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 22 Jan 2026
- **Updated:** 22 Jan 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-99mq-mhwv-w9qx

## What is CVE-2026-24039?

CVE-2026-24039 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in horilla-opensource horilla, published on 22 Jan 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Horilla is a free and open source Human Resource Management System (HRMS). Version 1.4.0 has Improper Access Control, allowing low-privileged employees to self-approve documents they have uploaded. The document-approval UI is intended to be restricted to administrator or high-privilege roles only; however, an insufficient server-side authorization check on the approval endpoint lets a standard employee modify the approval status of their own uploaded document. A successful exploitation allows users with only employee-level permissions to alter application state reserved for administrators. This undermines the integrity of HR processes (for example, acceptance of credentials, certifications, or supporting materials), and may enable submission of unvetted documents. This issue is fixed in version 1.5.0.

Weakness: CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-24039?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Horilla Horilla.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-24039?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-24039 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-24039 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-24039 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in horilla-opensource horilla

- [CVE-2025-59832](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-59832/): Horrila Stored XSS Vulnerability via Ticket Comment section (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2026-24010](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24010/): Horilla has HTML Injection Issue that, with Phishing, Leads to Account Takeover (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2026-24038](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24038/): Horilla HR has 2FA Bypass through its OTP Handling Logic (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2025-59524](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-59524/): Horilla Stored XSS Vulnerability via File Upload in Reimbursement Panel (high 7.7)
- [CVE-2025-59525](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-59525/): Horilla has Improper Input Sanitization Leading to XSS and Admin Account Takeover (high 7.7)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-24039 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-24039 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in horilla-opensource horilla, published on 22 Jan 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-24039 exists.

Affected product: horilla-opensource horilla. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24039/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24039/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-24039
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-24039
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-24039

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24039/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.