CVE-2026-85990 Leantime: Any Authenticated User Can Self-Escalate to Admin via Unauthorized JSON-RPC Methods
Authenticated users can escalate to admin or manage plugins by calling unprotected JSON-RPC methods in Leantime.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-85990?
CVE-2026-85990 is a high-severity vulnerability in leantime, published on 13 Oct 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
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.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-85990?
2 open source packages ship an affected version, including leantime/leantime.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
leantime/leantime Packagist | All versions | 3.10.0 |
leantime/leantime Packagist | All versions | 3.10.0 |
How do I fix CVE-2026-85990?
Upgrade leantime/leantime to 3.10.0 or later.
Is CVE-2026-85990 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-85990 exists.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-54mm-6729-r5wp.