CBSE Addresses Security Vulnerability in Evaluation Portal The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has acknowledged a technical vulnerability in its digital evaluation portal, stating it is working to resolve the issue. The board confirmed it is monitoring the problem with its service provider, which manages the portal used to distribute scanned answer sheets to students. While CBSE did not specify the exact nature of the vulnerability, the announcement came after a user on the social media platform X claimed to have discovered a security flaw. The user, identified as a software engineer, shared screenshots alleging that the board stored scanned answer sheets and question papers for the 2026 board examinations on an unsecured Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud storage bucket. According to the user, the lack of password protection allowed anyone to access and download the documents. The controversy gained further attention when former Union minister Jairam Ramesh posted on X, calling the situation a breach of privacy affecting 2 million students. Ramesh alleged that CBSE had manipulated the technical specifications in the request for proposal (RFP) for the digital evaluation project to favor COEMPT, the company contracted to handle the task. He also pointed out inconsistencies in the leaked answer sheets, such as folds and drop shadows, which he argued indicated the documents were scanned using mobile phones rather than dedicated scanning equipment. Ramesh further claimed that the third RFP omitted a requirement for robotic scanners, which could have improved the accuracy of the process. CBSE responded by thanking individuals and ethical hackers who brought the issue to light, stating that a team of cybersecurity experts had been deployed to address the vulnerabilities.#central_board_of_secondary_education #amazon_web_services #jairam_ramesh #coempt #onmark
Congress Condemns Massive Data Breach of CBSE Grade 12 Answer Sheets The Congress party on Sunday (May 31, 2026) condemned the exposure of answer sheets for two million CBSE Grade 12 students, calling it a “data breach of monumental proportions” that jeopardizes student privacy. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh accused the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and its contracted vendor, COEMPT, of systemic incompetence and negligence, highlighting the scandal as a reflection of the ministry’s failures. Ramesh criticized the CBSE’s handling of the Class 12 Board exams, emphasizing that the leaked answer sheets—now publicly accessible—expose a critical lapse in data security. He pointed to the poor quality of the scans, noting that the documents bore “folds and drop shadows,” characteristics typically associated with mobile phone scans rather than professional scanning equipment. This, he argued, raises questions about the scanners COEMPT used, especially since the third Request for Proposal (RFP) had originally specified robotic scanners. The Congress leader also cited a post on X, where he linked to an AWS bucket misconfiguration, allowing unauthorized access to media files containing 2026 answer sheets and question papers. “We can paginate and enumerate all their media,” he wrote, underscoring the scale of the breach. Ramesh accused the CBSE of failing to secure its digital infrastructure, which he claimed was exacerbated by the ministry’s decision to alter technical specifications in the RFP, likely to benefit COEMPT. The scandal has intensified political pressure on Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The Congress reiterated its demand for his resignation and a full investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the “emerging scandal.#central_board_of_secondary_education #congress_party #jairam_ramesh #dharmendra_pradhan #coempt
