Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-23626

Kimai ≤ 2.46.0

Public PoC
Published
18 January 2026
Modified
18 February 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0039 32th percentile
Risk Priority 44 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-23626 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements Used in a Template Engine (CWE-1336) vulnerability in Kimai Kimai. Its CVSS base score is 6.8 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Template Injection (T1221); ranked at the 32th 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 SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Kimai is a web-based multi-user time-tracking application. Prior to version 2.46.0, Kimai's export functionality uses a Twig sandbox with an overly permissive security policy (`DefaultPolicy`) that allows arbitrary method calls on objects available in the template context. An authenticated user…

more

with export permissions can deploy a malicious Twig template that extracts sensitive information including environment variables, all user password hashes, serialized session tokens, and CSRF tokens. Version 2.46.0 patches this issue.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1221 Template Injection Stealth
Adversaries may create or modify references in user document templates to conceal malicious code or force authentication attempts.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-46245Same product: Kimai Kimai
CVE-2026-42267Same product: Kimai Kimai
CVE-2026-44298Same product: Kimai Kimai
CVE-2024-29200Same product: Kimai Kimai
CVE-2026-40479Same product: Kimai Kimai
CVE-2023-53957Same product: Kimai Kimai
CVE-2026-40486Same product: Kimai Kimai
CVE-2026-41498Same product: Kimai Kimai
CVE-2024-4596Same product: Kimai Kimai
CVE-2026-28685Same product: Kimai Kimai

Affected Assets

kimai
kimai
≤ 2.46.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.3.2
  • V1.3.7
  • V1.3.10

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and static analysis can discover missing neutralization of template directives.

Input validation rejects or sanitizes untrusted data before it reaches the template engine, stopping injection of special syntax.

Security engineering principles require use of safe templating APIs and proper escaping of external input.

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.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require proper input neutralization in template engines to prevent injection.

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 template-injection flaws but does not itself implement neutralization controls.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and sanitization that directly prevents template-injection weaknesses.

prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for neutralizing special elements in template engines.

prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce the likelihood of unsafe template processing but do not prescribe specific neutralization techniques.

prevents

Secure coding standards require proper escaping or sandboxing of template directives, directly mitigating CWE-1336.

References