CVE-2026-25509
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2026-25509 is an email enumeration vulnerability in CI4MS, a CodeIgniter 4-based CMS skeleton. Unauthenticated attackers can determine whether specific email addresses are registered in the system by analyzing responses during password reset requests. This affects all CI4MS installations prior to version 0.28.5.0.
💻 Affected Systems
- CI4MS (CodeIgniter 4 CMS skeleton)
⚠️ 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
Attackers build comprehensive user databases through automated enumeration, enabling targeted phishing campaigns, credential stuffing attacks, or social engineering against known users.
Likely Case
Attackers identify valid user accounts for targeted attacks, increasing success rates for phishing, brute force, or credential stuffing attempts against the application.
If Mitigated
Limited information disclosure with minimal operational impact if proper rate limiting and monitoring are in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires analyzing HTTP response differences between valid and invalid email submissions during password reset.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 0.28.5.0
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/ci4-cms-erp/ci4ms/security/advisories/GHSA-654x-9q7r-g966
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update CI4MS to version 0.28.5.0 or later. 2. Apply the patch from commit 86be2930d1c54eb7575102563302b2f3bafcb653 if manual patching is needed. 3. Verify the fix by testing password reset functionality.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Implement rate limiting on password reset endpoint
allLimit requests per IP to prevent automated enumeration
Configure web server or application rate limiting rules for /auth/forgot endpoint
Standardize password reset responses
allModify application to return identical responses regardless of email validity
Edit authentication controller to remove timing and response differences
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement web application firewall rules to detect and block enumeration patterns
- Enable detailed logging for password reset attempts and monitor for suspicious patterns
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Test password reset with valid and invalid emails; if responses differ (timing, content, or status codes), system is vulnerable.Check Version:
Check CI4MS version in application configuration or via composer show ci4ms/ci4msVerify Fix Applied:
After patching, test password reset with both valid and invalid emails; responses should be identical in timing and content.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple failed password reset attempts from single IP
- Unusual patterns of password reset requests for non-existent emails
Network Indicators:
- High volume of POST requests to /auth/forgot endpoint
- Sequential email pattern requests
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND uri="/auth/forgot" AND status=200 | stats count by src_ip | where count > 10