piccolo_admin: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
CVE-2026-55485 is a high-severity exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor vulnerability in piccolo_admin from Piccolo-orm, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. Affected piccolo_admin versions: < 1.14.0. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.56% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Check which version of piccolo_admin you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
- Read the advisory on github.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piccolo-orm | piccolo_admin | < 1.14.0 | Not stated |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA (github.com).
Official description
Piccolo Admin is an admin interface and content management system for Python, built on top of Piccolo. Prior to 1.14.0, piccolo_admin/endpoints.py uses superuser_validators to block PUT, PATCH, DELETE, and POST requests by non-superusers but permits GET requests to configured user and session tables, while piccolo_api/session_auth/tables.py exposes SessionsBase.token because the token column is not secret. In deployments that add the Sessions and User tables to create_admin, a non-superuser administrator can call GET /api/tables/sessions/, obtain another user's live session token, replay it as the Cookie id value to impersonate a superuser, and permanently set superuser to true on the attacker's own row. This issue is fixed in version 1.14.0.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Compartmentalize the system to have safe areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area. Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.
More Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerabilities (CWE-200)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: poc, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
- github.com/piccolo-orm/piccolo_admin/commit/96ddae12baf12288056cbb0cda6f9e8d7e22c86d
- github.com/piccolo-orm/piccolo_admin/releases/tag/1.14.0
- github.com/piccolo-orm/piccolo_api/commit/520ec2567ae1d2cc417c8c0d1ad0ddc05549a8a4
- github.com/piccolo-orm/piccolo_api/pull/331
- github.com/piccolo-orm/piccolo_api/releases/tag/1.10.0
Other vulnerabilities in piccolo_admin
- 7.7 High severity
Recent Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerabilities
- 9.3 Critical severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.4 High severity
- 7.7 High severity
- 7.7 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
Spotted an error? Tell us.