CVE-2026-40486
MEDIUMCVE-2026-40486 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.3) CWE-915 vulnerability in kimai/kimai. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2026-40486 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Kimai's User Preferences API allows standard users to modify restricted attributes: hourly_rate, internal_rate
Blast Radius
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Description
Kimai is an open-source time tracking application. In versions 2.52.0 and below, the User Preferences API endpoint (PATCH /api/users/{id}/preferences) applies submitted preference values without checking the isEnabled() flag on preference objects. Although the hourly_rate and internal_rate fields are correctly marked as disabled for users lacking the hourly-rate role permission, the API ignores this restriction and saves the values directly. Any authenticated user can modify their own billing rates through this endpoint, resulting in unauthorized financial tampering affecting invoices and timesheet calculations. This issue has been fixed in version 2.53.0.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | kimai/kimai | all versions | 2.53.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for kimai/kimai. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update kimai/kimai to 2.53.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-40486 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2026-40486 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2026-40486. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-40486 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2026-40486 across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.