Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-13787

Zentao ≤ 21.7.7

Public PoC
Published
30 November 2025
Modified
04 December 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v4 5.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0037 30th percentile
Risk Priority 32 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-13787 is a medium-severity Incorrect Privilege Assignment (CWE-266) vulnerability in Zentao Zentao. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism (T1548); ranked at the 30th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-2 (Account Management) and AC-24 (Access Control Decisions) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A06:2025 Insecure Design

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A flaw has been found in ZenTao up to 21.7.6-8564. The affected element is the function file::delete of the file module/file/control.php of the component File Handler. Executing manipulation of the argument fileID can lead to improper privilege management. It is…

more

possible to launch the attack remotely. Upgrading to version 21.7.7 is sufficient to fix this issue. You should upgrade the affected component.

CWE(s)
CWE-266CWE-269

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1548 Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may circumvent mechanisms designed to control privilege elevation to gain higher-level permissions.
attack.mitre.org →
T1134 Access Token Manipulation Stealth
Adversaries may modify access tokens to operate under a different user or system security context to perform actions and bypass access controls.
attack.mitre.org →
T1548.001 Setuid and Setgid Privilege Escalation
An adversary may abuse configurations where an application has the setuid or setgid bits set in order to get code running in a different (and possibly more privileged) user’s context.
attack.mitre.org →
T1548.003 Sudo and Sudo Caching Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may perform sudo caching and/or use the sudoers file to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1078 Valid Accounts Stealth
Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of existing accounts as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-2551Same product: Zentao Zentao
CVE-2026-1884Same product: Zentao Zentao
CVE-2026-2552Same product: Zentao Zentao
CVE-2025-13789Same product: Zentao Zentao
CVE-2026-19381Shared CWE-266, CWE-269
CVE-2026-10217Shared CWE-266, CWE-269
CVE-2026-4824Shared CWE-266, CWE-269
CVE-2023-29066Shared CWE-266, CWE-269
CVE-2026-6750Shared CWE-266, CWE-269
CVE-2024-22145Shared CWE-266, CWE-269

Affected Assets

zentao
zentao
≤ 21.7.7

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 13 hardening rules · 11 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-2 Account Management good match

Account management directly governs assignment and tracking of privileges so proper implementation stops the weakness from being introduced.

AC-24 Access Control Decisions good match

Requiring explicit access-control decisions ensures privileges are evaluated rather than assumed or omitted.

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match

Access enforcement applies the correct privilege checks at every request, structurally preventing unintended spheres of control.

AC-5 Separation of Duties good match

Separation of duties constrains how privileges may be assigned, reducing the chance of overly broad actor control.

AC-6 Least Privilege good match

Least privilege directly requires that only the minimal necessary privileges are assigned to each actor.

AC-16 Security and Privacy Attributes partial match

Binding security attributes to subjects/objects supplies the mechanism needed to track and enforce privileges correctly.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-05 full match
prevents

Directly enforces least-privilege policy definition, management, and review that prevents incorrect privilege assignments.

PR.AA-01 partial match
prevents

PR.AA-01 supplies credential/identity lifecycle support that can reduce some privilege-assignment errors but does not itself assign, modify, or check privileges, leaving most of CWE-269's risk unaddressed.

PR.PS-01 partial match
prevents

Config baselines and default reviews can enforce some privilege-related settings (one facet) but do not address code-level assignment/tracking logic that defines CWE-269.

PR.PS-05 partial match
prevents

PR.PS-05 can partially limit exploitability of some privilege issues via execution restrictions, but does not address the core design/implementation flaws of CWE-269 at all.

PR.DS-10 none match
prevents

PR.DS-10 protects data-in-use without touching privilege assignment/tracking, so it neither prevents CWE-269 nor removes more than one narrow facet of its risk.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.18 Access rights mostly match
prevents

The access-rights control governs the entire lifecycle of privilege assignment, directly eliminating incorrect assignments.

A.8.2 Privileged access rights mostly match
prevents

Privileged-access-rights control explicitly requires least-privilege assignment and ongoing validation, directly mitigating CWE-266.

A.8.3 Information access restriction mostly match
prevents

Dynamic techniques that grant the minimum necessary rights for a given time window and revoke them afterward reduce the window in which excessive or unnecessary privileges can be exploited.

A.5.15 Access control partial match
prevents

Access control policy directly prevents incorrect privilege assignment by defining who may receive which rights.

A.5.2 Information security roles and responsibilities partial match
prevents

Defining and communicating authorization levels for each role limits the assignment of excessive or unnecessary privileges.

A.5.3 Segregation of duties partial match
mitigates

Segregation of duties reduces blast radius of any single incorrect privilege but does not prevent the assignment itself.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248551 A sticky bit must be set on all OL 8 public directories to prevent unauthorized and unintended information transferred via shared system resources. prevents CWE-266
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
  • V-271779 OL 9 must be configured so that a sticky bit must be set on all public directories. prevents CWE-266
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230243 A sticky bit must be set on all RHEL 8 public directories to prevent unauthorized and unintended information transferred via shared system resources. prevents CWE-266
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-257929 A sticky bit must be set on all RHEL 9 public directories. prevents CWE-266
Ubuntu 22.04 (2 rules)
  • V-260513 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS must set a sticky bit on all public directories to prevent unauthorized and unintended information transferred via shared system resources. prevents CWE-266
  • V-260559 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS must ensure only users who need access to security functions are part of sudo group. prevents CWE-266
Ubuntu 24.04 (2 rules)
  • V-270748 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS must ensure only users who need access to security functions are part of sudo group. prevents CWE-266
  • V-270750 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS must set a sticky bit on all public directories to prevent unauthorized and unintended information transferred via shared system resources. prevents CWE-266
Windows 10 (1 rule)
  • V-220712 Only accounts responsible for the administration of a system must have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-269
Windows 11 (1 rule)
  • V-253269 Only accounts responsible for the administration of a system must have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-269
Windows Server 2016 (1 rule)
  • V-225007 Only administrators responsible for the member server or standalone or nondomain-joined system must have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-269
Windows Server 2019 (1 rule)
  • V-205746 Windows Server 2019 must only allow Administrators responsible for the member server or standalone or nondomain-joined system to have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-269
Windows Server 2022 (1 rule)
  • V-254428 Windows Server 2022 must only allow administrators responsible for the member server or standalone or nondomain-joined system to have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-269

References