Actual is a local-first personal finance tool. Prior to version 26.4.0, any authenticated user (including `BASIC` role) can escalate to `ADMIN` on servers migrated from password authentication to OpenID Connect. Three weaknesses combine: `POST /account/change-password` has no authorization check, allowing any session to overwrite the password hash; the inactive password `auth` row is never removed on migration; and the login endpoint accepts a client-supplied `loginMethod` that bypasses the server's active auth configuration. Together these allow an attacker to set a known password and authenticate as the anonymous admin account created during the multiuser migration. The three weaknesses form a single, sequential exploit chain — none produces privilege escalation on its own. Missing authorization on POST /change-password allows overwriting a password hash, but only matters if there is an orphaned row to target. Orphaned password row persisting after migration provides the target row, but is harmless without the ability to authenticate using it. Client-controlled loginMethod: "password" allows forcing password-based auth, but is useless without a known hash established by step 1. All three must be chained in sequence to achieve the impact. No single weakness independently results in privilege escalation. The single root cause is the missing authorization check on /change-password; the other two are preconditions that make it exploitable. Version 26.4.0 contains a fix.
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| actualbudget | actual | affected |
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Project Subscriptions
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Advisories
| Source | ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
 Github GHSA |
GHSA-prp4-2f49-fcgp | Actual has Privilege Escalation via 'change-password' Endpoint on OpenID-Migrated Servers |
Fixes
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
References
History
Fri, 24 Apr 2026 02:45:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Actual is a local-first personal finance tool. Prior to version 26.4.0, any authenticated user (including `BASIC` role) can escalate to `ADMIN` on servers migrated from password authentication to OpenID Connect. Three weaknesses combine: `POST /account/change-password` has no authorization check, allowing any session to overwrite the password hash; the inactive password `auth` row is never removed on migration; and the login endpoint accepts a client-supplied `loginMethod` that bypasses the server's active auth configuration. Together these allow an attacker to set a known password and authenticate as the anonymous admin account created during the multiuser migration. The three weaknesses form a single, sequential exploit chain — none produces privilege escalation on its own. Missing authorization on POST /change-password allows overwriting a password hash, but only matters if there is an orphaned row to target. Orphaned password row persisting after migration provides the target row, but is harmless without the ability to authenticate using it. Client-controlled loginMethod: "password" allows forcing password-based auth, but is useless without a known hash established by step 1. All three must be chained in sequence to achieve the impact. No single weakness independently results in privilege escalation. The single root cause is the missing authorization check on /change-password; the other two are preconditions that make it exploitable. Version 26.4.0 contains a fix. | |
| Title | Actual has Privilege Escalation via 'change-password' Endpoint on OpenID-Migrated Servers | |
| Weaknesses | CWE-284 CWE-862 |
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| References |
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| Metrics |
cvssV3_1
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Projects
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MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: GitHub_M
Published:
Updated: 2026-04-24T02:13:47.200Z
Reserved: 2026-03-18T21:23:36.677Z
Link: CVE-2026-33318
Vulnrichment
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NVD
Status : Received
Published: 2026-04-24T03:16:11.203
Modified: 2026-04-24T03:16:11.203
Link: CVE-2026-33318
Redhat
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OpenCVE Enrichment
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