Authentication Bypass
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
How It Works
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications. Instead of cracking passwords through brute force, attackers manipulate the authentication process itself to gain unauthorized entry. This typically occurs through one of several pathways: exploiting hardcoded credentials embedded in source code or configuration files, manipulating parameters in authentication requests to skip verification steps, or leveraging broken session management that fails to properly validate user identity.
The attack flow often begins with reconnaissance to identify authentication endpoints and their underlying logic. Attackers may probe for default administrative credentials that were never changed, test whether certain URL paths bypass login requirements entirely, or intercept and modify authentication tokens to escalate privileges. In multi-step authentication processes, flaws in state management can allow attackers to complete only partial verification steps while still gaining full access.
More sophisticated variants exploit single sign-on (SSO) or OAuth implementations where misconfigurations in trust relationships allow attackers to forge authentication assertions. Parameter tampering—such as changing a "role=user" field to "role=admin" in a request—can trick poorly designed systems into granting elevated access without proper verification.
Impact
- Complete account takeover — attackers gain full control of user accounts, including administrative accounts, without knowing legitimate credentials
- Unauthorized data access — ability to view, modify, or exfiltrate sensitive information including customer data, financial records, and intellectual property
- System-wide compromise — admin-level access enables installation of backdoors, modification of security controls, and complete infrastructure takeover
- Lateral movement — bypassed authentication provides a foothold for moving deeper into networks and accessing additional systems
- Compliance violations — unauthorized access triggers breach notification requirements and regulatory penalties
Real-World Examples
CrushFTP suffered a critical authentication bypass allowing attackers to access file-sharing functionality without any credentials. The vulnerability enabled direct server-side template injection, leading to remote code execution on affected systems. Attackers actively exploited this in the wild to establish persistent access to enterprise file servers.
Palo Alto's Expedition migration tool contained a flaw permitting attackers to reset administrative credentials without authentication. This allowed complete takeover of the migration environment, potentially exposing network configurations and security policies being transferred between systems.
SolarWinds Web Help Desk (CVE-2024-28987) shipped with hardcoded internal credentials that could not be changed through normal administrative functions. Attackers discovering these credentials gained full administrative access to helpdesk systems containing sensitive organizational information and user data.
Mitigation
- Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) — requires attackers to compromise additional verification factors beyond bypassed primary authentication
- Eliminate hardcoded credentials — use secure credential management systems and rotate all default credentials during deployment
- Enforce authentication on all endpoints — verify every request requires valid authentication; no "hidden" administrative paths should exist
- Implement proper session management — use cryptographically secure session tokens, validate on server-side, enforce timeout policies
- Apply principle of least privilege — limit damage by ensuring even authenticated users only access necessary resources
- Regular security testing — conduct penetration testing specifically targeting authentication logic and flows
Recent CVEs (37792)
In vow, there is a possible escalation of privilege due to a missing permission check. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In vow, there is a possible escalation of privilege due to a missing permission check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA vGPU software contains a vulnerability in the Virtual GPU Manager (vGPU plugin), where a guest OS may be able to control resources for which it is not authorized, which may lead to information. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Hero Qubo HCD01_02_V1.38_20220125 devices allow TELNET access with root privileges by default, without a password. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
The affected TBox RTUs allow low privilege users to access software security tokens of higher privilege. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Users may be able to launch containers that bypass the mountable secrets policy enforced by the ServiceAccount admission plugin when using ephemeral containers. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Sealos is a Cloud Operating System designed for managing cloud-native applications. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Arcserve UDP through 9.0.6034 allows authentication bypass. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Improper Input Validation vulnerability in Apache Software Foundation Apache Airflow Hive Provider.1.1. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
The Opal Estate plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to featured property modifications in versions up to, and including, 1.6.11. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
UniFi OS 3.1 introduces a misconfiguration on consoles running UniFi Network that allows users on a local network to access MongoDB. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.0), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in Node.js 20 that allowed loading arbitrary OpenSSL engines when the experimental permission model is enabled, which can bypass and/or disable the. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An authentication bypass issue via spoofing was discovered in the token-based authentication mechanism that could allow an attacker to carry out an impersonation attack.26.202. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An authentication bypass in Intelbras Switch SG 2404 MR in firmware 1.00.54 allows an unauthenticated attacker to download the backup file of the device, exposing critical information about the. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and EPSS exploitation probability 39.7%.
Post-authentication remote command injection vulnerability in Western Digital My Cloud OS 5 devices that could allow an attacker to execute code in the context of the root user on vulnerable CGI. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In Malwarebytes EDR 1.0.11 for Linux, it is possible to bypass the detection layers that depend on inode identifiers, because an identifier may be reused when a file is replaced, and because two. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Insecure defaults in open-source Temporal Server before version 1.20 on all platforms allows an attacker to craft a task token with access to a namespace other than the one specified in the request. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.6). No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in the CheckUserLog API in the CheckUser extension for MediaWiki through 1.39.3. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
"NewsPicks" App for Android versions 10.4.5 and earlier and "NewsPicks" App for iOS versions 10.4.2 and earlier use hard-coded credentials, which may allow a local attacker to analyze data in the app. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper authentication vulnerability in WL-WN531AX2 firmware versions prior to 2023526 allows a network-adjacent attacker to obtain a password for the wireless network. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Authentication Bypass by Capture-replay vulnerability in Mitsubishi Electric Corporation MELSEC iQ-F Series main modules allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to cancel the password/keyword. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Web3 - Crypto wallet Login & NFT token gating plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass in versions up to, and including, 2.6.0. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
The SP Project & Document Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Insecure Direct Object References in versions up to, and including, 4.67. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
A broken authentication mechanism in the endpoint excel.php of POS Codekop v2.0 allows unauthenticated attackers to download selling data. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
The BookIt plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass in versions up to, and including, 2.3.7. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
The affected TBox RTUs are missing authorization for running some API commands. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Sealos is an open source cloud operating system distribution based on the Kubernetes kernel. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Improper Authentication vulnerability could allow attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms to gain unauthorized access.
A security defect was identified in Foundry workspace-server that enabled a user to bypass an authorization check and view settings related to 'Developer Mode'. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
STW (aka Sensor-Technik Wiedemann) TCG-4 Connectivity Module DeploymentPackage_v3.03r0-Impala and DeploymentPackage_v3.04r2-Jellyfish and TCG-4lite Connectivity Module. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In Veritas NetBackup Appliance before 4.1.0.1 MR3, insecure permissions may allow an authenticated Admin to bypass shell restrictions and execute arbitrary operating system commands via SSH. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The WordPress Social Login and Register (Discord, Google, Twitter, LinkedIn) plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass in versions up to, and including, 7.6.4. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and EPSS exploitation probability 70.1%.
** UNSUPPORTED WHEN ASSIGNED ** [An attacker can capture an authenticating hash and utilize it to create new sessions. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
D-Link DSL-G256DG version vBZ_1.00.27 web management interface allows authentication bypass via an unspecified method. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper access control vulnerability in SearchWidget prior to version 3.3 in China models allows untrusted applications to start arbitrary activity. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An unauthenticated attacker within BLE proximity can remotely connect to a 7-Eleven LED Message Cup, Hello Cup 1.3.1 for Android, and bypass the application's client-side chat censor filter. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
there is a possible way to bypass the protected confirmation screen due to Failure to lock display power. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In multiple functions of WifiNetworkFactory.java, there is a missing permission check. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In requestAppKeyboardShortcuts of WindowManagerService.java, there is a possible way to infer the app a user is interacting with due to a missing permission check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In multiple methods of DataUsageList.java, there is a possible way to learn about admin user's network activities due to a missing permission check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In registerGsmaServiceIntentReceiver of ShannonRcsService.java, there is a possible way to activate/deactivate RCS service due to a missing permission check. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
D-Link DIR-823G firmware version 1.02B05 has a password reset vulnerability, which originates from the SetMultipleActions API, allowing unauthorized attackers to reset the WEB page management. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in Cisco Duo Two-Factor Authentication for macOS could allow an authenticated, physical attacker to bypass secondary authentication and access an affected macOS device. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.6), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Subscribe2 plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access to email functionality due to a missing capability check when sending test emails in versions up to, and including, 10.40. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. This Missing Authorization vulnerability could allow attackers to access resources or perform actions without proper authorization checks.
IBM Robotic Process Automation for Cloud Pak 21.0.1 through 21.0.7.3 and 23.0.0 through 23.0.3 is vulnerable to security misconfiguration of the Redis container which may provide elevated privileges. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Incorrect Authorization vulnerability could allow attackers to bypass authorization checks to access restricted resources.
IBM QRadar SIEM 7.5.0 could allow an authenticated user to perform unauthorized actions due to hazardous input validation. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Improper Access Control in GitHub repository plantuml/plantuml prior to 1.2023.9. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
A missing authorization check in multiple URL validation endpoints of the Insider Threat Management Server enables an anonymous attacker on an adjacent network to smuggle content via DNS lookups. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A missing authorization check in the MacOS agent configuration endpoint of the Insider Threat Management Server enables an anonymous attacker on an adjacent network to obtain sensitive information. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A missing authorization check in multiple SOAP endpoints of the Insider Threat Management Server enables an attacker on an adjacent network to read and write unauthorized objects. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.6), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
DataEase is an open source data visualization analysis tool to analyze data and gain insight into business trends. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Affected versions of Trend Micro Mobile Security (Enterprise) 9.8 SP5 contain some widgets that would allow a remote user to bypass authentication and potentially chain with other vulnerabilities. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. This Improper Authentication vulnerability could allow attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms to gain unauthorized access.
Affected versions of Trend Micro Mobile Security (Enterprise) 9.8 SP5 contain some widgets that would allow a remote user to bypass authentication and potentially chain with other vulnerabilities. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. This Improper Authentication vulnerability could allow attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms to gain unauthorized access.
DataEase is an open source data visualization analysis tool to analyze data and gain insight into business trends. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
DataEase is an open source data visualization analysis tool to analyze data and gain insight into business trends. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A valid, authenticated LXCA user may be able to gain unauthorized access to events and other data stored in LXCA due to a SQL injection vulnerability in a specific web API. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Lack of access control in wfc.exe in Malwarebytes Binisoft Windows Firewall Control 6.9.2.0 allows local unprivileged users to bypass Windows Firewall restrictions via the user interface's rules tab. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
In CloudPanel before 2.3.1, insecure file upload leads to privilege escalation and authentication bypass. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
NextCloud Server and NextCloud Enterprise Server provide file storage for Nextcloud, a self-hosted productivity platform. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Nextcloud End-to-end encryption app provides all the necessary APIs to implement End-to-End encryption on the client side. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK) is an open-source software development framework to define cloud infrastructure in code and provision it through AWS CloudFormation. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Knowage is an open source analytics and business intelligence suite. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
POS Codekop v2.0 was discovered to contain an authenticated remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability via the filename parameter. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Remult is a CRUD framework for full-stack TypeScript. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Tauri is a framework for building binaries for all major desktop platforms. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
This issue was addressed by adding additional SQLite logging restrictions. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
This issue was addressed with improved entitlements. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A privacy issue was addressed with improved private data redaction for log entries. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A logic issue was addressed with improved checks. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A logic issue was addressed with improved checks. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An authentication issue was addressed with improved state management. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in JS Help Desk js-support-ticket allows Accessing Functionality Not Properly Constrained by ACLs.7.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.6), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper Access Control in GitHub repository admidio/admidio prior to 4.2.9. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Improper Access Control in GitHub repository admidio/admidio prior to 4.2.9. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Dell BIOS contains an improper authentication vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Terraform Enterprise since v202207-1 did not properly implement authorization rules for agent pools, allowing the workspace to be targeted by unauthorized agents. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Grafana is validating Azure AD accounts based on the email claim. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
XML Signature Wrapping (XSW) in SAML-based Single Sign-on feature in TOPdesk v12.10.12 allows bad actors with credentials to authenticate with the Identity Provider (IP) to impersonate any TOPdesk. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Advantech R-SeeNet versions 2.4.22 is installed with a hidden root-level user that is not available in the users list. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Broken Access Control vulnerability in StylemixThemes MasterStudy LMS WordPress Plugin - for Online Courses and Education plugin <= 3.0.8 versions allows any logged-in users, such as subscribers to. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in /cgi-bin/login_rj.cgi in Wildix WSG24POE version 103SP7D190822, allows attackers to bypass authentication. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in /cgi-bin/adm.cgi in WavLink WavRouter version RPT70HA1.x, allows attackers to force a factory reset via crafted payload. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Dell PowerStore versions prior to 3.5 contain an improper verification of cryptographic signature vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
A logic error in SiLabs Z/IP Gateway SDK 7.18.02 and earlier allows authentication to be bypassed, remote administration of Z-Wave controllers, and S0/S2 encryption keys to be recovered. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper Authentication vulnerability in Apache Software Foundation Apache Accumulo.1.0. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform offering runtime services for applications built on top of it. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Enphase Installer Toolkit versions 3.27.0 has hard coded credentials embedded in binary code in the Android application. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in PuneethReddyHC Online Shopping System Advanced 1.0. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Zoho ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus through 6113 has an authentication bypass that can be exploited to steal the domain controller session token for identity spoofing, thereby achieving the. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cloudflare WARP client for Windows (up to v2023.3.381.0) allowed a malicious actor to remotely access the warp-svc.exe binary due to an insufficient access control policy on an IPC Named Pipe. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Attackers can successfully request arbitrary snippet IDs, including E-Mail signatures of other users within the same context. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Quick Facts
- Typical Severity
- CRITICAL
- Category
- auth
- Total CVEs
- 37792