Authentik
CVE-2023-36456
HIGH
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V4 - API and Web Service Interpretation consistency
|
| Impact | CVSS score of 7.3 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | This vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network. Successful exploitation could compromise the high-severity affected system. |
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Alert meAnalysisAI
authentik is an open-source Identity Provider. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
RemediationAI
A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Apply vendor patches when available. Implement network segmentation and monitoring as interim mitigations.
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Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability is classified under CWE-436. authentik is an open-source Identity Provider. Prior to versions 2023.4.3 and 2023.5.5, authentik does not verify the source of the X-Forwarded-For and X-Real-IP headers, both in the Python code and the go code. Only authentik setups that are directly accessible by users without a reverse proxy are susceptible to this. Possible spoofing of IP addresses in logs, downstream applications proxied by (built in) outpost, IP bypassing in custom flows if used. This poses a possible security risk when someone has flows or policies that check the user's IP address, e.g. when they want to ignore the user's 2 factor authentication when the user is connected to the company network. A second security risk is that the IP addresses in the logfiles and user sessions are not reliable anymore. Anybody can spoof this address and one cannot verify that the user has logged in from the IP address that is in their account's log. A third risk is that this header is passed on to the proxied application behind an outpost. The application may do any kind of verification, logging, blocking or rate limiting based on the IP address, and this IP address can be overridden by anybody that want to. Versions 2023.4.3 and 2023.5.5 contain a patch for this issue. Affected products include: Goauthentik Authentik.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
authentik is an open-source Identity Provider. Prior to versions 2023.4.3 and 2023.5.5, authentik does not verify the source of the X-Forwarded-For and X-Real-IP headers, both in the Python code and the go code. Only authentik setups that are directly accessible by users without a reverse proxy are susceptible to this. Possible spoofing of IP addresses in logs, downstream applications proxied by (built in) outpost, IP bypassing in custom flows if used.
This poses a possible security risk when someone has flows or policies that check the user's IP address, e.g. when they want to ignore the user's 2 factor authentication when the user is connected to the company network. A second security risk is that the IP addresses in the logfiles and user sessions are not reliable anymore. Anybody can spoof this address and one cannot verify that the user has logged in from the IP address that is in their account's log. A third risk is that this header is passed on to the proxied application behind an outpost. The application may do any kind of verification, logging, blocking or rate limiting based on the IP address, and this IP address can be overridden by anybody that want to.
Versions 2023.4.3 and 2023.5.5 contain a patch for this issue.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
GitHub
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
Affected Products (CPE)NVD
authentik is an open-source identity provider. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploi
authentik is an open-source Identity Provider focused on flexibility and versatility. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), th
authentik is an open-source Identity provider focused on flexibility and versatility. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.4),
Authentication bypass in authentik identity provider (versions prior to 2025.12.6, 2026.2.4, and 2026.5.1) allows remote
authentik is an open-source Identity Provider. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploi
authentik is an open-source Identity Provider. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploi
authentik is an open-source identity provider. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploi
authentik is an open-source identity provider. After authorizing access to a RAC endpoint, authentik creates a token whi
Account takeover in authentik (goauthentik) identity provider before 2026.2.6 and 2026.5.5 allows an attacker holding an
Cross-site scripting in authentik identity provider versions prior to 2025.12.5 and 2026.2.3 allows remote attackers to
Code injection in authentik identity provider from 2021.3.1 through multiple versions. Users with delegated permissions
authentik is an open-source identity provider. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.0), this vulnerability is remotely exploi
Exploit-DB