Is this vulnerability remotely exploitable?

Yes. Any attacker with network access to the Horilla HRMS instance and valid username/password credentials for a target account can exploit the flaw by crafting HTTP requests that omit the OTP field when the server-side OTP has expired.

What level of access does an attacker need to exploit this?

The attacker needs credentials (or the ability to obtain them) for a target account; the vulnerability specifically bypasses the OTP-based second factor, not the primary password check. If administrative credentials are compromised, the impact can extend to system-wide control.

What is the safest general fix pattern for this issue?

The fix should ensure that OTP verification requires a non-empty user-supplied value and a valid, non-expired server-side token, and that any missing or `None` input is treated as an immediate failure. The application should clearly distinguish "missing", "invalid", and "expired" OTP states in the logic.

Severity:

HIGH RISK

(8.1)

Authentication Bypass via Flawed OTP Equality Check (CWE-287) in Horilla HRMS

CVE-2026-24038

Published:

Jan 21, 2026

Status:

Analyzed

Summary

Affected Context

Exploit Preconditions

Why This Happens

Potential Impact

General Mitigation Guidance

How Teams Detect Issues Like This

Frequently Asked Questions

Source

NDV

Recent Vulnerabilities

CWE-306

CRITICAL RISK

CRITICAL

(9.8)

Missing Authentication for Forgot-Password Email Change API (CWE-306)

Account Takeover / Loss of Account Control

February 17, 2026

CWE-77;CWE-78

HIGH RISK

HIGH

(7.3)

OS Command Injection (CWE-78) in node-sonos-http-api TTS Provider for macOS

Remote Code Execution on the Server Host

February 17, 2026

Vulnerability Type

Category:

Authentication Bypass

CWE:

CWE-287

Impact:

Two-Factor Authentication Bypass and Account Compromise

Severity:

HIGH RISK

(8.1)

CVSS Version:

3.1

Vulnerability Type

Category:

Authentication Bypass

CWE:

CWE-287

Impact:

Two-Factor Authentication Bypass and Account Compromise

Severity:

HIGH RISK

(8.1)

CVSS Version:

3.1

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355 Bryant St. San Francisco, CA 94107, USA

Ask AI for summary of CodeAnt

Authentication Bypass via Flawed OTP Equality Check (CWE-287) in Horilla HRMS

Summary

Affected Context

Exploit Preconditions

Why This Happens

Potential Impact

General Mitigation Guidance

How Teams Detect Issues Like This

Frequently Asked Questions

Source

Recent Vulnerabilities

CRITICAL RISK

CRITICAL

(9.8)

Missing Authentication for Forgot-Password Email Change API (CWE-306)

HIGH RISK

HIGH

(7.3)

OS Command Injection (CWE-78) in node-sonos-http-api TTS Provider for macOS

Vulnerability Type

Vulnerability Type

Vulnerability Type

Vulnerability Type

Catch This CVE While Code Is Being Written

Ship clean & secure code faster

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