craftcms/cms security advisory

CVE-2026-72785: Craft CMS: Authorization bypass: view-only Categories user can modify category structure via structures/move-element

CVE-2026-72785 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in the PHP package craftcms/cms (CVSS 4.3), published 11 August 2026. It is fixed in 5.10.6; earlier versions are affected. Exploiting it needs a low-privilege user account.

medium 4.3 published 2026-08-11 · updated 2026-10-24

Affected versions: >= 5.0.0-RC1, < 5.10.6
Fixed in: 5.10.6
Newest release: 5.12.0
Severity: Medium · CVSS 4.3
Type: Missing authorization check
CWE-863
Exploited in the wild: Not on the CISA KEV list
checked 2026-11-04

Is your craftcms/cms version affected?

Run composer show craftcms/cms in your project, then enter the version. We check it against this and every other known craftcms/cms advisory.

Who can exploit CVE-2026-72785

Access: A normal, low-privilege user account in the app.

CVSS vector (scored by VulnCheck): CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

Your app is only exposed if it uses the affected part of craftcms/cms. The advisory below says which part that is. If you are not sure, upgrade anyway: it costs less than finding out.

How to fix CVE-2026-72785 in craftcms/cms

Find the installed version: composer show craftcms/cms. If you never required it yourself, composer why craftcms/cms shows which package pulls it in.
Update it: composer update craftcms/cms --with-all-dependencies. You need 5.10.6 or newer.
If Composer will not go that high, your composer.json constraint is holding it back. Widen it (for example "craftcms/cms": "^5.10.6" if you can take that version), or upgrade the package that requires it.
Run composer audit. It reads the same advisory data and should no longer list CVE-2026-72785.
Commit composer.lock and deploy it. On the server, run composer install --no-dev from the lock file, not composer update.

If you cannot upgrade yet

General hardening for missing authorization issues while the upgrade waits. None of it replaces the fix.

Remove accounts you do not need and review what each role can do.
Put the admin area behind a VPN, IP allow-list or extra login until you upgrade.
If your app does not use the affected feature, note that in your audit, but still plan the upgrade.

The CVE-2026-72785 advisory

Craft CMS 5.0.0-RC1 through 5.10.5 contains an incorrect authorization vulnerability. A control-panel user holding only the viewCategories permission (without saveCategories) for a category group can permanently modify that group's category structure — reordering and re-parenting categories — via the structures/move-element action. The structureEditable flag is computed from the view permission rather than the save permission, and the StructuresController authorizes the mutating action on that read-time session grant without a save re-check. Because a category's URI is derived from its position in the structure, moving a category changes its URL and those of its descendants and can corrupt navigation menus built from the category taxonomy. The issue is fixed in 5.10.6.

Description from the CVE record, published by VulnCheck (the CVE Numbering Authority), via the NVD entry for CVE-2026-72785. Advisory title: “Craft CMS: Authorization bypass: view-only Categories user can modify category structure via structures/move-element”.

References

GitHub advisory GHSA-xxpx-f366-4xpq github.com
Vulncheck security advisory www.vulncheck.com

Other craftcms/cms advisories

critical Craft CMS: Passkey login accepts replayed WebAuthn assertions 2026-08-07
medium CVE-2026-72779: Craft CMS: Arbitrary file read via SplFileObject in non-sandboxed template contexts 2026-08-06
medium CVE-2026-72782: Craft CMS: Authenticated leak of secret environment variables 2026-08-06
medium CVE-2026-14794: Craft CMS: Missing authorization check allows non-admin control panel users access to user registration metrics 2026-08-06
low CVE-2026-72783: Craft CMS: Incorrect path validation could potentially lead to path traversal 2026-08-06
medium Craft CMS: Stored XSS in the control panel via unescaped draft name 2026-08-06

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Where this data comes from

Affected and fixed versions: the Packagist security advisories API (GitHub Advisory Database and FriendsOfPHP), the same data composer audit uses. Synced 2026-11-03.
Description, score, weakness and references: NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD), checked 2026-11-04. This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
Exploited-in-the-wild status: the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, checked 2026-11-04.
Compiled by Daniel Lasek at Laskyr from the sources above. The summary, “who can exploit it”, “how to fix it” and hardening sections are our plain-English reading of the record and are generated from it. The quoted description is the record's own text. Spot an error? Tell us.