CVE-2025-14778
📋 TL;DR
This Keycloak vulnerability allows a user who owns one resource to modify authorization policies for other resources they don't own when those resources share the same UMA policy. This enables horizontal privilege escalation where users can alter access controls for resources belonging to other users. All Keycloak deployments using UMA Protection API with shared policies are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Keycloak
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
An attacker could gain unauthorized access to sensitive resources, modify permissions for critical systems, or disrupt business operations by manipulating authorization policies across multiple resources.
Likely Case
Users with legitimate access to some resources could inadvertently or intentionally modify permissions for other users' resources, leading to data exposure or unauthorized actions.
If Mitigated
With proper network segmentation and minimal privilege principles, impact would be limited to specific resource sets rather than entire systems.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access and knowledge of shared UMA policies. The vulnerability is in the authorization logic itself.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Check Red Hat advisory RHSA-2026:2364 for specific fixed versions
Vendor Advisory: https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:2364
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Check current Keycloak version. 2. Apply vendor-provided patch or upgrade to fixed version. 3. Restart Keycloak service. 4. Verify fix by testing UMA policy updates.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable UMA Protection API
allTemporarily disable User-Managed Access functionality if not required
Modify Keycloak configuration to disable UMA features
Audit and Separate Shared Policies
allReview existing UMA policies and ensure no policies contain resources from multiple owners
Review Keycloak UMA policies via admin console or API
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict monitoring of UMA policy changes and alert on suspicious modifications
- Apply network segmentation to limit potential impact scope between different resource owners
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if your Keycloak version is affected by comparing against Red Hat advisory RHSA-2026:2364. Test by creating a UMA policy with multiple resources from different owners and attempting to modify it.Check Version:
keycloak/bin/kc.sh --version or check Keycloak admin consoleVerify Fix Applied:
After patching, test the same UMA policy modification scenario - it should now properly check authorization for all resources in the policy.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected UMA policy modifications
- Authorization failures for resources previously accessible
- Multiple resource policy updates from single user
Network Indicators:
- Unusual pattern of UMA API calls
- Policy modification requests affecting multiple resource types
SIEM Query:
source="keycloak" AND (event_type="UMA_POLICY_UPDATE" OR event_type="UMA_POLICY_DELETE") AND resource_count>1