📄 Description (English)
CI4MS is a CodeIgniter 4-based CMS skeleton that delivers a production-ready, modular architecture with RBAC authorization and theme support. Prior to version 0.31.0.0, the application fails to immediately revoke active user sessions when an account is deleted. Due to a logic flaw in the backend design, account state changes are enforced only during authentication (login), not for already-established sessions. The system implicitly assumes that authenticated users remain trusted for the lifetime of their session. There is no session expiration or account expiration mechanism in place, causing deleted accounts to retain indefinite access until the user manually logs out. This behavior breaks the intended access control policy and results in persistent unauthorized access. This issue has been patched in version 0.31.0.0.
🤖 AI Executive Summary
CI4MS versions prior to 0.31.0.0 fail to revoke active sessions when user accounts are deleted, allowing deleted users to maintain indefinite access until manual logout. This critical access control flaw (CWE-284) affects any organization using CI4MS for internal systems, particularly those managing sensitive business processes. The vulnerability is exploitable and poses significant risk to Saudi enterprises relying on this CodeIgniter 4-based CMS for administrative and operational functions.
📄 Description (Arabic)
🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: Apr 23, 2026 07:39
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
This vulnerability poses significant risk to Saudi banking sector institutions using CI4MS for internal portals and customer management systems, potentially allowing terminated employees or compromised accounts to maintain unauthorized access to financial data. Government agencies and NCA-regulated entities face compliance violations if deleted administrative accounts retain system access. Healthcare organizations using CI4MS for patient record management systems could experience HIPAA-equivalent breaches. Energy sector organizations (including ARAMCO subsidiaries) managing operational technology systems face critical risks. Telecommunications providers (STC, Mobily) using CI4MS for billing or customer systems could experience revenue leakage and data theft. The indefinite session persistence creates audit trail gaps and violates principle of least privilege across all sectors.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Banking and Financial Services
Government and Public Administration
Healthcare and Medical Services
Energy and Utilities
Telecommunications
Retail and E-commerce
Manufacturing and Industrial
Education and Universities
🎯 MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
T1078 - Valid Accounts: Deleted accounts retain valid session tokens
T1110 - Brute Force: Session persistence enables prolonged unauthorized access
T1133 - External Remote Services: Deleted accounts maintain remote access capabilities
T1556 - Modify Authentication Process: Session validation bypasses account status checks
T1556.004 - Modify Authentication Process: Domain Controller Authentication: Session management fails to enforce account lifecycle
T1098 - Account Manipulation: Deleted accounts not properly deactivated
T1087 - Account Discovery: Attackers can identify and exploit deleted accounts with active sessions
T1021 - Remote Services: Deleted accounts maintain access to remote systems
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
8.5
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS:
1. Identify all CI4MS deployments in your organization and document version numbers
2. Implement immediate access control: Disable or terminate all active sessions for any deleted user accounts manually through database intervention
3. Audit user deletion logs for the past 90 days and review access logs for deleted accounts
4. Implement compensating control: Deploy session monitoring to detect and terminate sessions from deleted user accounts
PATCHING GUIDANCE:
1. Upgrade CI4MS to version 0.31.0.0 or later immediately
2. Test patch in non-production environment first
3. Plan maintenance window for production deployment
4. Verify session revocation works post-patch by testing account deletion workflow
COMPENSATING CONTROLS (if immediate upgrade not possible):
1. Implement session timeout mechanism: Set maximum session lifetime to 8 hours or less
2. Deploy middleware to validate user account status on each request
3. Implement real-time session revocation: Create database trigger to invalidate sessions when user.deleted_at is set
4. Enable comprehensive session logging with user account status checks
5. Implement daily batch job to purge sessions for deleted accounts
DETECTION RULES:
1. Monitor for authentication logs showing activity from accounts marked as deleted
2. Alert on session activity where user.deleted_at timestamp is not null
3. Track session creation timestamps vs. account deletion timestamps
4. Monitor for privilege escalation attempts from deleted accounts
5. Implement SIEM rule: Alert if session_user_id exists in deleted_users table
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. حدد جميع نشرات CI4MS في مؤسستك وقم بتوثيق أرقام الإصدارات
2. تطبيق التحكم الفوري بالوصول: تعطيل أو إنهاء جميع الجلسات النشطة لأي حسابات مستخدمين محذوفة يدويًا من خلال التدخل في قاعدة البيانات
3. تدقيق سجلات حذف المستخدمين لآخر 90 يومًا ومراجعة سجلات الوصول للحسابات المحذوفة
4. تطبيق التحكم البديل: نشر مراقبة الجلسة لاكتشاف وإنهاء الجلسات من حسابات المستخدمين المحذوفة
إرشادات التصحيح:
1. ترقية CI4MS إلى الإصدار 0.31.0.0 أو أحدث على الفور
2. اختبار التصحيح في بيئة غير الإنتاج أولاً
3. خطط نافذة الصيانة لنشر الإنتاج
4. تحقق من عمل إلغاء الجلسة بعد التصحيح بواسطة اختبار سير عمل حذف الحساب
الضوابط البديلة (إذا لم يكن الترقية الفورية ممكنة):
1. تطبيق آلية انتهاء صلاحية الجلسة: تعيين أقصى مدة حياة للجلسة إلى 8 ساعات أو أقل
2. نشر البرنامج الوسيط للتحقق من حالة حساب المستخدم في كل طلب
3. تطبيق إلغاء الجلسة في الوقت الفعلي: إنشاء محفز قاعدة البيانات لإبطال الجلسات عند تعيين user.deleted_at
4. تفعيل تسجيل الجلسة الشامل مع فحوصات حالة حساب المستخدم
5. تطبيق مهمة دفعية يومية لتنظيف الجلسات للحسابات المحذوفة
قواعد الكشف:
1. مراقبة سجلات المصادقة التي تظهر نشاطًا من الحسابات المحددة كمحذوفة
2. تنبيه نشاط الجلسة حيث user.deleted_at timestamp ليس فارغًا
3. تتبع طوابع زمن إنشاء الجلسة مقابل طوابع زمن حذف الحساب
4. مراقبة محاولات تصعيد الامتيازات من الحسابات المحذوفة
5. تطبيق قاعدة SIEM: تنبيه إذا كان session_user_id موجودًا في جدول deleted_users
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
5.1.1 - Access Control Policy: Failure to revoke access violates access control policies
5.1.2 - User Registration and Access Rights: Deleted users must have access revoked immediately
5.2.1 - User Access Management: Session management must enforce account status changes
5.3.1 - Password Management: Session persistence bypasses authentication controls
7.1.1 - Information Security Incident Management: Unauthorized access from deleted accounts constitutes security incident
🔵 SAMA CSF
AC-2 Account Management: Failure to disable accounts upon deletion
AC-3 Access Enforcement: Session-based access not enforced against account status
AU-2 Audit Events: Deleted accounts maintaining access creates audit trail gaps
IA-4 Identifier Management: User identifiers not invalidated upon account deletion
SC-7 Boundary Protection: Session management lacks account status validation
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
A.5.1.1 - Policies for information security: Access control policy not enforced
A.6.1.2 - Information security roles and responsibilities: Account lifecycle management failure
A.8.1.1 - User endpoint devices: Session management lacks account status checks
A.8.2.1 - User access management: Access not revoked upon account deletion
A.8.2.3 - Management of privileged access rights: Deleted privileged accounts retain access
A.8.3.1 - Password management: Session persistence bypasses authentication controls
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0.1
6.5.10 - Broken authentication: Session management fails to enforce account status
7.1 - Limit access to system components: Deleted accounts maintain system access
8.1.4 - User access provisioning: Access not revoked upon account deletion
10.2.5 - Logging access to audit trails: Deleted accounts accessing systems not properly logged
📦 Affected Products / CPE 1 entries
ci4-cms-erp:ci4ms