Himmelblau's Name-Based Group Matching in `pam_allow_groups` Leads to Potential Security Bypass
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- Low · Low · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-287.
Summary
Himmelblau is an interoperability suite for Microsoft Azure Entra ID and Intune. Himmelblau versions 0.9.0 through 0.9.14 and 1.00-alpha are vulnerable to a privilege escalation issue when Entra ID group-based access restrictions are configured using group display names instead of object IDs. Starting in version 0.9.0, Himmelblau introduced support for specifying group names in the `pam_allow_groups` configuration option. However, Microsoft Entra ID permits the creation of multiple groups with the same `displayName` via the Microsoft Graph API—even by non-admin users, depending on tenant settings. As a result, a user could create a personal group with the same name as a legitimate access group (e.g., `"Allow-Linux-Login"`), add themselves to it, and be granted authentication or `sudo` rights by Himmelblau. Because affected Himmelblau versions compare group names by either `displayName` or by the immutable `objectId`, this allows bypassing access control mechanisms intended to restrict login to members of official, centrally-managed groups. This issue is fixed in Himmelblau version **0.9.15** and later. In these versions, group name matching in `pam_allow_groups` has been deprecated and removed, and only group `objectId`s (GUIDs) may be specified for secure group-based filtering. To mitigate the issue without upgrading, replace all entries in `pam_allow_groups` with the objectId of the target Entra ID group(s) and/or audit your tenant for groups with duplicate display names using the Microsoft Graph API.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| himmelblau-idm | himmelblau | 0.9.0 to before 0.9.15; = 1.0.0-alpha | 0.9.15 | Patch available | CNA |
- himmelblau Vendorhimmelblau-idm Affected 0.9.0 to before 0.9.15; = 1.0.0-alpha Fixed in 0.9.15 Patch available CNA
CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1
Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:himmelblau-idm:himmelblau:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | — | — | himmelblau-idm |
- cpe:2.3:a:himmelblau-idm:himmelblau:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·himmelblau-idm
Remediation
- Fix · CNA himmelblau (himmelblau-idm) Fixed in 0.9.15
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-49012
References
Other 4
- https://github.com/himmelblau-idm/himmelblau/security/advisories/GHSA-gcxr-m95v-qcf7
- https://github.com/himmelblau-idm/himmelblau/issues/554
- https://github.com/himmelblau-idm/himmelblau/commit/918577f6a8392a71d9d3d67f20962c372a0c01c6
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1035045/azure-ad-b2c-creates-groups-with-the-same-name-usi?utm_source=chatgpt.com
More himmelblau-idm vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-24522 himmelblaud-tasks: local privilege escalation via /tmp symlink attack on Kerberos ccache CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2026-26683 himmelblau: NSS fake-primary group lookup reintroduces name collision risk CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.0
- TI-2025-34616 Himmelblau's Kerberos credential cache collection is world readable CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.1
- TI-2026-24501 Himmelblau unset domain configuration can allow any-tenant authentication at first login for remote deployments CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
- TI-2026-32945 Himmelblau: Authentication Bypass via Cross-User Local Session Impersonation in Device Authorization Grant (DAG) Flow CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2025-33017 Himmelblau offline auth permits authentication with invalid Hello PIN CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.2
Sources
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences