Git · Winter · CVE-2026-35445
**Name of the Vulnerable Software and Affected Versions**
Winter CMS versions prior to 1.2.13
**Description**
An issue exists where the backend fails to validate the handler name submitted via the ` handler` POST field during form postbacks. While AJAX requests are validated against the `on[A-Z][w+]*` pattern, the postback path passes the ` handler` value directly to the handler dispatcher without validation. This allows an authenticated backend user to invoke arbitrary controller methods, including protected, private, and action-prefixed ones, provided the controller has a public action or relaxes its `$requiredPermissions` check. For instance, the Users controller set `$requiredPermissions` to `null` for the `myaccount` action, enabling users without the `backend.manage users` permission to call sensitive methods such as `update onDelete` and `update onManualPasswordReset()`.
**Recommendations**
Update Winter CMS to version 1.2.13 or later.
As a temporary workaround, validate the ` handler` POST field against the `on[A-Z][w+]*` pattern in `modules/backend/classes/Controller.php` before it is passed to `runAjaxHandler()`.
As a temporary workaround, remove the conditional that sets `$requiredPermissions` to `null` for the `myaccount` action in `modules/backend/controllers/Users.php`.