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Email Change IDOR via POST /api/v2/email allows full Account Takeover (accountId not validated against session)

High
mjashanks published GHSA-c8vc-7pv3-g98p Jul 22, 2026

Package

npm @budibase/server (npm)

Affected versions

<3.40.0

Patched versions

3.40.0

Description

Summary

POST /api/v2/email on the account portal (account.budibase.app) starts an email-change workflow using a client-supplied accountId that is not validated against the authenticated session. A logged-in attacker supplies a victim's accountId and an email address they control; the verification code is delivered to the attacker's address, and completing the workflow changes the victim's account email. The attacker then password-resets the victim's account through the controlled address and logs in — full account takeover with no victim interaction.

Vulnerability Details

The endpoint session-checks the currentEmail field (a mismatch returns 403), but it does not enforce body.accountId === session.accountId. The account-portal frontend only ever submits the logged-in user's own accountId, so in normal use the two always match — the server simply trusts the body value. An attacker who has a victim's accountId can point the workflow at the victim's account while passing their own currentEmail to clear the session check.

This is more powerful than a direct password reset: PUT /api/v2/auth/password {email} already exists and is gated only on knowing the victim's email, but the reset link is sent to the address on the account — the victim's inbox, which the attacker does not control. This IDOR moves the victim's email to an attacker-controlled inbox first, so the attacker receives the reset link and sets a password they know.

accountId obtainability. We checked every endpoint reachable from a non-admin free-tier account — GET /api/global/users (no UUID in any user record), GET /api/global/auditlogs/search (no accountId field), GET /api/global/users/invites (code + email + name only), GET /api/v2/tenant (one tenant-internal UUID, not a user accountId), the account-portal frontend (passes the session's own accountId only), and all unauthenticated endpoints — and the victim's accountId was not present in any of them. The attacker must obtain the UUID through some channel other than the normal API surface (support channel, screenshot, a leak, prior compromise, etc.).

Steps to Reproduce

Setup: Two account-portal accounts at https://account.budibase.app — Account A (attacker) and Account B (victim). From Account B's session, GET /api/auth/self returns account.accountId — this is the value the attacker needs.

  1. Start the email-change workflow pointed at the victim's accountId, newEmail = attacker-controlled.
POST /api/v2/email HTTP/1.1
Host: account.budibase.app
Content-Type: application/json
Cookie: budibase:auth=<ACCOUNT_A_JWT>

{"currentEmail":"<ACCOUNT_A_EMAIL>","newEmail":"attacker-controlled@example.net","accountId":"<VICTIM_ACCOUNT_ID>"}

Response: 201 Created, sets budibase:change_email:correlationkey (HttpOnly), :instancekey, :status, :newemail cookies. The workflow started against the victim's accountId even though the caller is Account A.

  1. Complete the change with the code from the attacker-controlled inbox (or read directly from the correlationkey cookie set in step 1).
POST /api/v2/email/verification HTTP/1.1
Host: account.budibase.app
Content-Type: application/json
Cookie: budibase:auth=<ACCOUNT_A_JWT>; budibase:change_email:correlationkey=<CODE>; budibase:change_email:instancekey=<KEY>

{"verificationCode":"<code>","processInstanceKey":"<key>"}

Response: 200 OK. The victim's account email is now attacker-controlled@example.net.

  1. Confirm the change hit the victim, not the caller (false-positive control).
  • Account A (caller) still logs in with its own original email — 200, unchanged.
  • Account B's (victim) original email is now rejected — 403, locked out.
  • attacker-controlled@example.net now logs into the victim's account — 200.
  1. Take over the account.
PUT /api/v2/auth/password HTTP/1.1
Host: account.budibase.app
Content-Type: application/json

{"email":"attacker-controlled@example.net"}

Response: 202 Accepted, reset link delivered to the attacker's own inbox. Complete the reset with PUT /api/v2/auth/password/verification, then log in as the victim with the attacker-chosen password. GET /api/auth/self afterward returns the victim's real accountId and tenantId — full account takeover, confirmed via a genuinely separate account/tenant (not a same-account self-test).

Impact

An authenticated account-portal user who obtains a victim's accountId (out-of-band — it is not exposed anywhere in the normal cross-user API surface we could find) can take over that victim's account: rewrite the login email to an attacker address, set a new password, and access the victim's tenants, apps, and stored datasource credentials (REST/SQL/S3 auth). The victim is locked out of their own account. Every step from the initial IDOR write to full login-as-victim is deterministic and 100% reliable once the accountId is known — no additional vulnerability or guessing is required, since the chain uses nothing but the platform's own stock password-reset flow.

Remediation

Validate that the body's accountId equals the authenticated session's accountId before starting or completing the email-change workflow (the same check already applied to currentEmail). Do not trust a client-supplied accountId to select the workflow target.

CVSS

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N — 8.0 High. Attack Complexity is High because the attacker must obtain the victim's non-guessable accountId (UUID) via some out-of-band means before the chain can begin; once known, every subsequent step is deterministic.

Severity

High

CVE ID

No known CVE

Weaknesses

Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key

The system's authorization functionality does not prevent one user from gaining access to another user's data or record by modifying the key value identifying the data. Learn more on MITRE.

Credits