CVE-2026-46696: October CMS: Safe Mode Sandbox Bypass via Session Store and Forwarded Builder Calls
Noroxi assessment
Priority: Monitor (action score 13/100)
- The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.27% (FIRST EPSS).
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. Administrator privileges are required. No user action is required. Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.
- Fixed version: october/system (Packagist) 4.2.23, 3.7.17.
Low priority for now. Upgrade to october/system (Packagist) 4.2.23, 3.7.17 or later.
Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it
Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS
October System provides the system module for October Content Management System. Versions prior to 3.7.17 and 4.2.21 have a vulnerability in the Twig sandbox security policy that allowed a chained bypass when `cms.safe_mode` is enabled. The Laravel session store was exposed to Twig with unrestricted method access, and raw SQL methods reachable through Eloquent's `__call` forwarding were not blocked across the full builder chain. When combined, a backend user with CMS markup editing access could read arbitrary database values via raw SQL expressions and write to the backend authentication session key, forging a backend session as another existing user. The scope of impact is narrow. Safe Mode is a niche feature, primarily used for demo installations and multi-tenant or shared-editor scenarios where untrusted users are deliberately granted access to the CMS markup editor. Standard production deployments do not enable Safe Mode, because under normal October CMS guidance backend access - including markup editing - is restricted to trusted administrators, and direct PHP injection through markup is already possible without Safe Mode in that configuration. This issue only affects sites that meet all of the following conditions: `cms.safe_mode` is enabled (a deliberate opt-in for demos or untrusted-editor scenarios; the site has at least one backend user with CMS markup editing access who is not intended to be trusted as a full administrator; and the site has at least one existing superuser account whose session the lower-privileged user can impersonate. The vulnerability has been patched in v3.7.17 and v4.2.21. The Laravel session store is now wrapped in a proxy that exposes only an explicit subset of read/write methods and rejects writes to reserved session key prefixes (`admin_auth`, `october_auth`, `login_*`, `_token`, and other framework internals). Raw SQL and subquery methods (`selectRaw`, `whereRaw`, `orderByRaw`, `joinSub`, and related) are now blocked on `Query\Builder`, `Eloquent\Builder`, and `Eloquent\Model` so the blocklist is consistent across the `__call` forwarding chain. All sites that enable `cms.safe_mode` are encouraged to upgrade to the latest patched version. A workaround is available. Restrict CMS markup editing access to fully trusted administrators only - the standard October CMS recommendation for any deployment. Note that disabling `cms.safe_mode` is not a workaround; Safe Mode is the boundary this issue affects, and disabling it removes the only sandbox between markup editors and the server.
- Published
- Sep 14, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 30, 2026
- EPSS
- 0.2% · 19th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-269
Report tools
Action score
13
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 13 / 40 · 3.3 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 0.2%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- partial
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- —
- CNA · GitHub_M
- 3.3
- NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Get told when this record changes
- Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
- No public exploit code on record
- A fix has been released
If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.
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Noroxi analysis
What does it mean in your environment?
The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.
We use this product, ask for helpAffected systems
Is your version affected?
Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.
—
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (GitHub_M). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
octobercms system
- < 3.7.17, >= 4.0.0, < 4.2.23affected
Package-level exposure
OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Packagist | october/system | from 4.0.0 · before 4.2.23 | 4.2.23 |
| Packagist | october/system | before 3.7.17 | 3.7.17 |
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
| Product / package | Fixed version | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Packagist:october/system | 3.7.17 | Package registry (OSV) |
| Packagist:october/system | 4.2.23 | Package registry (OSV) |
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
No credits in the CNA record.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- Administrator privileges are required.
- No user action is required.
- Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- low · data can be read
- Integrity
- low · data or configuration can be modified
- Availability
- none
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- High
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- Low
- Integrity impact
- Low
- Availability impact
- None
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-269 · Improper Privilege ManagementCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
nvd-secondary
Root cause
To simplify setup, a service account is granted broad, cluster-wide permissions. The principle of least privilege is skipped during installation.
The bug in code
The whole CWE-269 classA representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.
Vulnerable
kind: ClusterRole
rules:
- apiGroups: ["*"]
resources: ["*"]
verbs: ["*"]Fixed
kind: Role
metadata:
namespace: lodos-system
rules:
- apiGroups: ["apps"]
resources: ["deployments"]
verbs: ["get", "list", "update"]Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
Change log
- Fix✗ → ✓
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References
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.