CBSE OSM row explodes over hack claims, answer sheet mix-ups

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has dismissed allegations that its On-Screen Marking (OSM) system was compromised, even as concerns over evaluation discrepancies, portal glitches, and answer-sheet mix-ups continue to trigger nationwide debate around the board’s digital assessment process.

The controversy began after a social media user claimed that vulnerabilities in a CBSE-linked portal could allow unauthorized access to examiner accounts and manipulation of students’ marks.

The allegations rapidly gained attention online, prompting criticism from students, parents, and educators who questioned the reliability of the board’s digital evaluation infrastructure.

CBSE responded by issuing a detailed clarification, denying any breach of its live evaluation system.

"At the outset, it is clarified that the portal used for evaluation of answer books bore a different URL, which has neither been compromised nor does it have the vulnerabilities indicated in the said social media post. The URL cbse.onmarks.co.in is a testing site only with sample data for internal testing and review purposes,” CBSE said.

“There are no actual evaluation data, marks or other data held on that portal. The Board emphasizes that no security breaches have come to light on the portal deployed for the actual evaluation work," CBSE added.

The board maintained that the cited portal was merely a testing environment and not part of the live system used to evaluate students’ answer sheets.

It further said the OSM system had been introduced to improve transparency, uniformity, and accuracy in assessments, with safeguards and grievance redressal mechanisms built into the process. However, the clarification did little to quiet the growing controversy.

The social media user who first raised the issue, identified as Nisarga Adhikary, questioned CBSE’s explanation and claimed that production-level data had still been accessible through the domain.

"Then how was I able to access production data on that site? All of the mirrors you had under the onmark domain had the same vulnerabilities. It's sad that you can't even investigate security reports properly. Attaching screenshots as proof," the user posted on X.

Adhikary, a security researcher from Siliguri, claimed he first reported the vulnerabilities to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) in February.

According to him, several flaws in the system were basic enough that even users with limited technical expertise could allegedly gain access to examiner accounts, bypass authentication layers, and reset passwords.

The researcher alleged that the portal’s login system contained a “master password” embedded within front-end website code, potentially allowing users to bypass one-time password verification.

He further claimed that OTP verification processes appeared to rely on browser-side validation instead of secure server-side checks.

Another alleged flaw reportedly allowed access to internal portal pages without proper authentication by manipulating client-side data stored in browsers.

According to the researcher, the password reset feature also did not require the existing password, creating the possibility of unauthorized account takeovers.

If exploited, such vulnerabilities could theoretically allow unauthorized users to access answer scripts, modify marks, alter evaluator information, or interfere with the evaluation process.

The claims emerged at a time when CBSE’s OSM system was already under scrutiny following multiple complaints from students regarding answer-sheet mismatches, low scores, blurred scans, unchecked responses, and technical failures during the re-evaluation process.

One of the most widely discussed cases involved Class 12 student Vedant Shrivastava, who alleged that the Physics answer sheet shared with him by CBSE during the reevaluation process did not belong to him.

"I am a CBSE Class 12 student. After receiving unexpectedly low marks in Physics, we applied for photocopies of my answer sheets through the CBSE reevaluation process. Today we received the copies. And I am shattered because the Physics answer sheet uploaded by CBSE is not mine," Vedant had posted on X on May 23.

According to the student, only the first page appeared to belong to him, while the handwriting, answer presentation, spacing, and writing style in the remaining pages were entirely different.

The issue quickly gained traction online, with several users demanding an explanation from CBSE. The controversy intensified further as some social media users targeted the family, questioning their nationality and accusing them of attempting to defame the board.

CBSE later acknowledged the discrepancy and sent Vedant what it described as the correct evaluated answer sheet.

"Dear Vedant, Thank you for bringing your concern regarding your Physics answer book to our attention. Upon review, the matter has been examined, and the correct copy of your answer book has been sent to your registered email address. Necessary action for updating your result, as applicable, is also being undertaken accordingly. We appreciate your patience and assure you of our continued support," CBSE said in its response.

Vedant later confirmed that the board had accepted the error.

"We have got my correct answer sheet by CBSE. CBSE officials reached out to us in the evening and have sent my answer sheet. We were correct on our claims, and the answer sheet indeed got exchanged," he wrote on X.

His brother, Siddhant Shrivastava, said the marks initially awarded were based on another student’s answer sheet.

"The problem was that his answer sheet was exchanged with someone else's, and the marks we received were based on someone else's answer sheet. We emailed the complaint to CBSE. We also made a video, gave an interview to a news channel, and tweeted it. When this matter received a lot of public attention, CBSE reached out to us and sent us the correct answer key," he said.

Siddhant also demanded a dedicated grievance mechanism for students facing similar issues.

"We want a formal portal established for other students as well, where they can report such problems directly to CBSE and not face harassment and trolling as we did, to report their genuine issues," he said.

Another Class 12 student, Sanjana, also alleged that the Chemistry answer sheet uploaded during the reevaluation process did not match her handwriting.

She claimed that only the first page carrying personal details appeared authentic, while the internal pages belonged to someone else.

These complaints have intensified questions around the implementation of OSM and the digital tagging and scanning systems used by the board.

CBSE introduced the On-Screen Marking system shortly before the 2026 board examinations, replacing traditional pen-and-paper evaluation methods with digital assessment of scanned answer sheets. The board described the reform as a technology-driven step toward greater consistency and transparency.

However, concerns escalated after the declaration of Class 12 results on May 13, when the overall pass percentage dropped to 85.20%, down from 88.39% the previous year and marking the lowest result level since 2019.

Students and parents subsequently reported difficulties accessing scanned answer scripts through CBSE’s portal. Complaints included delayed uploads, payment failures, blurred scans, missing pages, unchecked answers, incorrect step-marking, and evaluation inconsistencies.

CBSE later said that it had received 404,319 applications for scanned answer books, covering 1,131,961 answer scripts. According to the board, 898,214 answer books had already been digitally furnished to students, while the remaining requests were expected to be completed by May 27.

The board also announced that applications for verification of marks and reevaluation would open on May 29.

Amid the growing scrutiny, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan held meetings with senior officials from State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, and Indian Bank to strengthen CBSE’s payment gateway infrastructure following complaints of failed transactions and refund delays during post-result services.

Officials said the discussions focused on improving digital payment systems used for reevaluation requests, photocopies of answer sheets, and other fee-based examination services.

"Students should not face technical glitches or payment failures in the future," Pradhan said during the meeting.

The banks were directed to work with CBSE to establish robust payment protocols, real-time monitoring systems, and automatic refund mechanisms in cases of failed or excess payments.

Separately, teams from IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur have been asked to examine technical issues linked to CBSE’s reevaluation portal and OSM system.

IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti said a four-member expert team had already begun reviewing complaints related to payment failures and answer-sheet uploads.

The controversy has now reached Parliament

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports has summoned senior officials from the Ministry of Education, CBSE, the National Testing Agency (NTA), and the Ministry of Health for meetings scheduled on June 1 and June 2.

The panel, chaired by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh, will review issues related to OSM implementation, post-result technical failures, the proposed transition toward computer-based testing, and the ongoing NEET-UG controversy.

Questioning the government’s handling of recent examination issues, Singh said, "The way the Ministry of Education is functioning is highly impractical." Take the NEET issue, for example. It is quite strange that the entire country is saying there was a paper leak, but the NTA is saying there was no leak. It's a strange situation."

"We have heard that they are maintaining that there was no leak. Then what happened? Why are they conducting a re-examination? OSM was used once in 2014 and was found to be impractical. In 2017, the University of Mumbai also implemented it and found it impractical. So when it has already failed twice, why are you experimenting with students across the country?" he added.

The parliamentary panel will also review CBSE’s recent implementation of the three-language formula for Classes 9 and 10, introduced under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023.

The broader debate over CBSE’s digital infrastructure comes amid increasing dependence on online systems for examinations, evaluation, counseling, and post-result services across India’s education sector.