Yep. That's exactly what I stumbled upon on a popular pet management platform.
The UI tries to be smart — once a pet is inactive, editing options disappear. But behind the scenes? The server doesn't actually enforce it. With a few tweaks to API requests, the impossible becomes possible:
- 📝 Change info for "inactive" pets
- 🔄 Flip them back to active
- 🎮 Regain full editing powers in the UI
Basically, the system says "no" in the UI, but secretly whispers "go ahead".
How I Played With It 🕵️♂️
- Created a test pet profile.
- Marked it inactive via the UI — editing disappeared.
- Intercepted the update request using a proxy tool.
- Tweaked the request to rename the pet while keeping it inactive.
- Sent it. Surprise: the backend accepted it! 🎉
- Flipped the pet back to active via the API.
- Refreshed the UI. Bam — full access restored, including my "new" name.
Why This Is Interesting ⚠️
At first, it might seem harmless — just a "dead" pet getting a new name. But this is a classic business logic flaw:
- The UI says no
- The backend says go ahead
If a platform ties pet status to rewards, loyalty programs, or analytics, this tiny bug could:
- Mess with data integrity
- Allow feature abuse
- Cause unexpected system behavior
Good news: you can only affect your own pets, not others'. But it's a clear reminder: never trust the UI to enforce rules.
Key Takeaways ✅
- UI-only restrictions are not enough — always validate on the server.
- Flags like "inactive" can have unintended consequences if ignored server-side.
- Even "small" bugs can cause bigger integrity or abuse issues.
💡 TL;DR: Inactive pets aren't really dead if the backend lets you play with them. A tiny oversight in business logic can turn "dead" into very much alive.