A user who has write:admin in one Keycloak realm can call the Manager API to update Keycloak realm roles for users in another realm, including master. The handler uses the {realm} path segment when talking to the identity provider but does not check that the caller may administer that realm. This could result in a privilege escalation to master realm administrator if the attacker controls any user in master realm.
In manager/src/main/java/org/openremote/manager/security/UserResourceImpl.java, there is no check to validate if the caller should be able to administer a realm they're trying to update.
```340:353:manager/src/main/java/org/openremote/manager/security/UserResourceImpl.java @Override public void updateUserRealmRoles(RequestParams requestParams, String realm, String userId, String[] roles) { try { identityService.getIdentityProvider().updateUserRealmRoles( realm, userId, roles); } catch (ClientErrorException ex) { ex.printStackTrace(System.out); throw new WebApplicationException(ex.getCause(), ex.getResponse().getStatus()); } catch (Exception ex) { throw new WebApplicationException(ex); } }
### PoC
1. Create a **new** Keycloak realm other than `master`. Add a user and grant that user the OpenRemote client role `write:admin`. Remember the realm name (call it `NEW_REALM`).
2. In Keycloak realm `master`, pick a **low-privilege** user (no `admin` realm role). Copy that user’s UUID (`<master-user-uuid>`).
3. Authenticate as the user from step 1 and obtain a Bearer access token (`<token>`) for `NEW_REALM`.
4. Replace placeholders and run:
```bash
curl -k -X PUT "https://<host>/api/<NEW_REALM>/user/master/userRealmRoles/<master-user-uuid>" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '["admin"]'
5. In the Keycloak Admin Console, realm master, that user, Role mapping. Confirm the admin realm role is assigned.
An attacker with the OpenRemote client role write:admin in any realm can call this API with {realm} set to another realm (for example master) and change Keycloak realm roles for users there. That can grant admin on master to a user UUID they target, which gives Keycloak administrator access for the master realm.
{
"severity": "HIGH",
"github_reviewed": true,
"nvd_published_at": null,
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-284"
],
"github_reviewed_at": "2026-04-22T14:38:23Z"
}