SmarterMail before build 9777 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability where JWT access and…

Why it is Yellow

• CVSS 8.8 high

References

• https://blog.evan.lat/posts/sm/
• https://www.smartertools.com/smartermail/release-notes/current#/9526:~:text=Build%209777%20(Oct%208%2C%202026)
• https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/smartermail-build-9777-stale-jwt-role-claim-privilege-escalation-via-refresh-token

Original description

SmarterMail before build 9777 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability where JWT access and refresh tokens embed a role claim at issuance that is not revalidated against the account's current role when redeemed through POST /api/v1/auth/refresh-token. Attackers who capture a refresh token issued before an administrator demotion, or a demoted user whose session was not actively polling at the time of demotion, can replay the stale token to obtain a new access token retaining the higher-privilege role (such as DomainAdmin or SysAdmin) until natural token expiry.