Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-65021

Access Control in Rallly ≤ 4.5.4

Public PoCAccess Control
Published
19 November 2025
Modified
25 November 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0038 31th percentile
Risk Priority 67 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2025-65021 is a critical-severity Improper Authorization (CWE-285) vulnerability in Rallly Rallly. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 31th 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-24 (Access Control Decisions) and AC-25 (Reference Monitor) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2025-65021 is an Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) vulnerability affecting Rallly, an open-source scheduling and collaboration tool, in versions prior to 4.5.4. The flaw resides in the poll finalization feature, where the application fails to properly validate ownership of the pollId parameter in requests. This allows manipulation of the parameter to target polls belonging to other users. The vulnerability is associated with CWE-285 (Improper Authorization), CWE-639 (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key), and CWE-862 (Missing Authorization), and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.1 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H).

Any authenticated user can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network with low complexity and no user interaction required. By simply altering the pollId in the finalization request, an attacker can unauthorizedly finalize another user's poll, converting it into an event. This disrupts legitimate user workflows, compromises data integrity by altering poll states without permission, and impacts availability by preventing proper poll management.

The issue has been addressed in Rallly version 4.5.4, as detailed in the project's release notes and security advisory. Security practitioners should upgrade to v4.5.4 or later and review access controls in similar parameter-driven features to prevent IDOR exposures. Relevant resources include the GitHub release at https://github.com/lukevella/rallly/releases/tag/v4.5.4 and the security advisory at https://github.com/lukevella/rallly/security/advisories/GHSA-x7w2-g548-4qg8.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Rallly is an open-source scheduling and collaboration tool. Prior to version 4.5.4, an Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) vulnerability exists in the poll finalization feature of the application. Any authenticated user can finalize a poll they do not own by…

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manipulating the pollId parameter in the request. This allows unauthorized users to finalize other users’ polls and convert them into events without proper authorization checks, potentially disrupting user workflows and causing data integrity and availability issues. This issue has been patched in version 4.5.4.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1548 Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may circumvent mechanisms designed to control privilege elevation to gain higher-level permissions.
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.
T1548.002 Bypass User Account Control Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may bypass UAC mechanisms to elevate process privileges on system.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-65028Same product: Rallly Rallly
CVE-2025-65020Same product: Rallly Rallly
CVE-2025-65029Same product: Rallly Rallly
CVE-2025-65033Same product: Rallly Rallly
CVE-2025-65030Same product: Rallly Rallly
CVE-2025-65031Same product: Rallly Rallly
CVE-2025-65034Same product: Rallly Rallly
CVE-2025-65032Same product: Rallly Rallly
CVE-2026-33162Shared CWE-285, CWE-862
CVE-2023-1167Shared CWE-285, CWE-862

Affected Assets

rallly
rallly
≤ 4.5.4

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 11 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Mandates that access-control decisions are made and applied to each request before access occurs.

Requires a tamperproof, always-invoked reference monitor that performs authorization checks.

Directly requires enforcement of approved authorizations for every access request, stopping improper or missing checks.

Limits granted privileges so that even a bypassed check affects fewer resources.

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

Enforcing authorization policy and least privilege directly blocks user-controlled key tampering that bypasses access checks.

PR.IR-01 mostly match
prevents

Logical access controls prevent unauthorized data access that results from missing authorization checks on object references.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices catch and eliminate most authorization defects before release, yet a single broad outcome cannot address every design, role, and runtime facet of CWE-285.

PR.AA-01 partial match
prevents

PR.AA-01 supplies managed identities and access-request workflows that can support downstream authorization decisions, yet does nothing to enforce or verify authorization checks inside a product, leaving CWE-285 fully unaddressed by this control alone.

PR.PS-05 none match
prevents

PR.PS-05 blocks unauthorized binaries/DNS while CWE-285 is an in-product authorization-check defect, so the control neither prevents the weakness nor removes any 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.

finds

Security testing can detect missing authorization checks but does not prevent the weakness in production.

prevents

Granular, policy-driven assignment of permissions and dynamic enforcement of those permissions prevent the incorrect or missing authorization decisions that lead to improper authorization flaws.

prevents

By requiring documented authorization rules and periodic policy reviews, the control makes it less likely that authorization decisions will be omitted or implemented inconsistently across applications.

prevents

Mapping access rights to information classification and business requirements forces correct enforcement of authorization decisions, blocking the incorrect authorization weakness at the policy and implementation stage.

prevents

Managing access rights includes ensuring users can only access their own records and not bypass authorization by altering identifiers.

mitigates

Segregating the approval of access rights from their implementation provides an independent check that reduces the impact of missing authorization checks in the resulting system configuration.

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 (2 rules)
  • V-252656 The OL 8 operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-285, CWE-862
  • V-248581 OL 8 must require users to provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-285, CWE-862
RHEL 7 (3 rules)
  • V-251704 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-285, CWE-862
  • V-204429 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that users must provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-285, CWE-862
  • V-204430 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that users must re-authenticate for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-285
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-251712 The RHEL 8 operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-285

References