CVE-2026-33888 | ApostropheCMS: publicApiProjection Bypass via `project` Query Builder in Piece-Type REST API

Exp

ApostropheCMS is an open-source Node.js content management system. Versions 4.28.0 and prior contain an authorization bypass vulnerability in the getRestQuery method of the @apostrophecms/piece-type module, where the method checks whether a MongoDB projection has already been set before applying the admin-configured publicApiProjection. An unauthenticated attacker can supply a project query parameter in the REST API request, which is processed by applyBuildersSafely before the permission check, pre-populating the projection state and causing the publicApiProjection to be skipped entirely. This allows disclosure of any field on publicly queryable documents that the administrator explicitly restricted from the public API, such as internal notes, draft content, or metadata. Exploitation is trivial, requiring only appending query parameters to a public URL with no authentication. This issue has been fixed in version 4.29.0.

Published: 2026-04-15 Last update: 2026-04-20 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-33888 is rated Exploit Available (50/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.09%). Core evidence: 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2026-33888

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-33888

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-04-16 0.09%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-33888

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
3.9 1.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-33888

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-33888

GHSA-xhq9-58fw-859p · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: npm — ApostropheCMS: publicApiProjection Bypass via project Query Builder in Piece-Type REST API

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-33888

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apostrophecms apostrophecms < 4.29.0 cpe:2.3:a:apostrophecms:apostrophecms:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-33888

cvelogic Threat Intelligence