# CVE-2026-35595: Vikunja Affected by Privilege Escalation via Project Reparenting

> Attackers can escalate privileges to Admin on projects by reparenting them under their own project tree due to flawed permission inheritance logic.

- **Severity:** High 8.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 10 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 10 Apr 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-2vq4-854f-5c72, GO-2026-4952

## What is CVE-2026-35595?

CVE-2026-35595 is a high-severity vulnerability in go-vikunja vikunja, published on 10 Apr 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Vikunja is an open-source self-hosted task management platform. Prior to 2.3.0, the CanUpdate check at pkg/models/project_permissions.go:139-148 only requires CanWrite on the new parent project when changing parent_project_id. However, Vikunja's permission model uses a recursive CTE that walks up the project hierarchy to compute permissions. Moving a project under a different parent changes the permission inheritance chain. When a user has inherited Write access (from a parent project share) and reparents the child project under their own project tree, the CTE resolves their ownership of the new parent as Admin (permission level 2) on the moved project. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.3.0.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-35595?

3 open source packages ship an affected version, including code.vikunja.io/api. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `code.vikunja.io/api` | Go | All versions | None |
| `code.vikunja.io/api` | Go | All versions | 2.3.0 |
| `code.vikunja.io/api` | Go | All versions | 2.3.0 |

Products: Vikunja Vikunja.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-35595?

Upgrade code.vikunja.io/api to 2.3.0 or later.

## Is CVE-2026-35595 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-35595 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in go-vikunja vikunja

- [CVE-2026-28268](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-28268/): Vikunja Vulnerable to Account Takeover via Password Reset Token Reuse (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-27575](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-27575/): Vijkunja has Weak Password Policy Combined with Persistent Sessions After Password Change (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2026-25935](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-25935/): Vikunja Affected by XSS Via Task Preview (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2026-33316](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33316/): Vikunja’s Improper Access Control Enables Bypass of Administrator-Imposed Account Disablement (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2026-33678](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33678/): Vikunja has IDOR in Task Attachment ReadOne Allows Cross-Project File Access and Deletion (high 8.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-35595 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-35595 is a high-severity vulnerability in go-vikunja vikunja, published on 10 Apr 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-2026-35595 exists.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- code.vikunja.io/api (Go): affected all versions; no fix listed
- code.vikunja.io/api (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 2.3.0
- code.vikunja.io/api (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 2.3.0

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-2026-35595/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-35595/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-35595
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-35595
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-35595

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-35595/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.