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 (33094)
Insufficient enforcement of user access controls in Magento 2.1 prior to 2.1.18, Magento 2.2 prior to 2.2.9, Magento 2.3 prior to 2.3.2 could enable a low-privileged user to make unauthorized. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) vulnerability exists in the order processing workflow of Magento 2.1 prior to 2.1.18, Magento 2.2 prior to 2.2.9, Magento 2.3 prior to 2.3.2. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An insecure direct object reference (IDOR) vulnerability exists in Magento 2.1 prior to 2.1.18, Magento 2.2 prior to 2.2.9, Magento 2.3 prior to 2.3.2 due to insufficient authorizations checks. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An insecure direct object reference (IDOR) vulnerability exists in the RSS feeds of Magento 2.1 prior to 2.1.18, Magento 2.2 prior to 2.2.9, Magento 2.3 prior to 2.3.2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A path traversal vulnerability in the WYSIWYG editor for Magento 2.1 prior to 2.1.18, Magento 2.2 prior to 2.2.9, Magento 2.3 prior to 2.3.2 could result in unauthorized access to uploaded images due. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An insecure direct object reference (IDOR) vulnerability in Magento 2.1 prior to 2.1.18, Magento 2.2 prior to 2.2.9, Magento 2.3 prior to 2.3.2 can lead to unauthorized disclosure of company credit. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
routes/api/v1/api.go in Gogs 0.11.86 lacks permission checks for routes: deploy keys, collaborators, and hooks. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Missing Authorization vulnerability could allow attackers to access resources or perform actions without proper authorization checks.
The web interface of Alcatel LINKZONE MW40-V-V1.0 MW40_LU_02.00_02 devices is vulnerable to an authentication bypass that allows an unauthenticated user to have access to the web interface without. 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.
The web interface of the D-Link DVA-5592 20180823 is vulnerable to an authentication bypass that allows an unauthenticated user to have access to sensitive information such as the Wi-Fi password and. 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 has been identified in SIPROTEC 5 devices with CPU variants CP200 (All versions < V7.59), SIPROTEC 5 devices with CPU variants CP300 and CP100 (All versions < V8.01), Siemens Power. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
It was discovered that libvirtd, versions 4.x.x before 4.10.1 and 5.x.x before 5.4.1, would permit readonly clients to use the virDomainManagedSaveDefineXML() API, which would permit them to modify. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability exists in the garbage collection mechanism of atomic-openshift. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An authentication bypass vulnerability was discovered in foreman-tasks before 0.15.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
A flaw was found in moodle before versions 3.7.1, 3.6.5, 3.5.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
A flaw was found in moodle before versions 3.7.1, 3.6.5, 3.5.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
A flaw was found in moodle before versions 3.7.1, 3.6.5, 3.5.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
A clone version of an ELM327 OBD2 Bluetooth device has a hardcoded PIN, leading to arbitrary commands to an OBD-II bus of a vehicle. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A missing permission check in Jenkins Pipeline: Shared Groovy Libraries Plugin 2.14 and earlier allowed users with Overall/Read access to obtain limited information about the content of SCM. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Missing permission checks in Jenkins Configuration as Code Plugin 1.24 and earlier in various HTTP endpoints allowed users with Overall/Read access to access the generated schema and documentation. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
It was discovered that libvirtd before versions 4.10.1 and 5.4.1 would permit read-only clients to use the virDomainSaveImageGetXMLDesc() API, specifying an arbitrary path which would be accessed. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Bypassing lock protection exists in Nextcloud Android app 3.6.0 when creating a multi-account and aborting the process. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Bypass lock protection in the Nextcloud Android app prior to version 3.3.0 allowed access to files when being prompted for the lock protection and switching to the Nextcloud file provider. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Bypass lock protection in the Nextcloud Android app prior to version 3.6.2 causes leaking of thumbnails when requesting the Android content provider although the lock protection was not solved. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.4), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Bypass lock protection in the Nextcloud Android app prior to version 3.6.1 allows accessing the files when repeatedly opening and closing the app in a very short time. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.6), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A missing check in the Nextcloud Server prior to version 15.0.1 causes leaking of calendar event names when adding or modifying confidential or private events. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered that affects the following versions of Rancher: v2.0.0 through v2.0.13, v2.1.0 through v2.1.8, and v2.2.0 through 2.2.1. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A flaw was discovered in the python-novajoin plugin, all versions up to, excluding 1.1.1, for Red Hat OpenStack Platform. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in PostgreSQL versions 11.x up to excluding 11.3, 10.x up to excluding 10.8, 9.6.x up to, excluding 9.6.13, 9.5.x up to, excluding 9.5.17. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Amcrest IP2M-841B V2.520.AC00.18.R, Dahua IPC-XXBXX V2.622.0000000.9.R, Dahua IPC HX5X3X and HX4X3X V2.800.0000008.0.R, Dahua DH-IPC HX883X and DH-IPC-HX863X V2.622.0000000.7.R, Dahua DH-SD4XXXXX. 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.
Discourse before 2.3.0 and 2.4.x before 2.4.0.beta3 lacks a confirmation screen when logging in via an email link. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.3), 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.
In CentOS-WebPanel.com (aka CWP) CentOS Web Panel 0.9.8.846, a hidden action=9 feature in filemanager2.php allows attackers to execute a shell command, i.e., obtain a reverse shell with user. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
undertow before version 2.0.23.Final is vulnerable to an information leak issue. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Missing Authorization vulnerability could allow attackers to access resources or perform actions without proper authorization checks.
Auth0 Passport-SharePoint before 0.4.0 does not validate the JWT signature of an Access Token before processing. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
eClass platform < ip.2.5.10.2.1 allows an attacker to use GETS method to request /admin page to bypass the password validation and access management page. 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.
Authentication protection bypass vulnerability in McAfee Data Loss Prevention (DLPe) for Windows 11.x prior to 11.3.0 allows physical local user to bypass the Windows lock screen via DLPe processes. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.2), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
User keystore signature is ignored in boot and can lead to bypass boot image signature verification in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Mobile in MDM9607, MDM9640, SD 425, SD 427,. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
perl-CRYPT-JWT 0.022 and earlier is affected by: Incorrect Access Control. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Vulnerability in the Sun ZFS Storage Appliance Kit (AK) component of Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite (subcomponent: HTTP data path subsystems). Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox component of Oracle Virtualization (subcomponent: Core). Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Identity Manager component of Oracle Fusion Middleware (subcomponent: Advanced Console). Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Siebel UI Framework component of Oracle Siebel CRM (subcomponent: UIF Open UI). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle FLEXCUBE Investor Servicing component of Oracle Financial Services Applications (subcomponent: Infrastructure). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle FLEXCUBE Investor Servicing component of Oracle Financial Services Applications (subcomponent: Infrastructure). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle FLEXCUBE Investor Servicing component of Oracle Financial Services Applications (subcomponent: Infrastructure). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle FLEXCUBE Investor Servicing component of Oracle Financial Services Applications (subcomponent: Infrastructure). Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking component of Oracle Financial Services Applications (subcomponent: Infrastructure). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking component of Oracle Financial Services Applications (subcomponent: Infrastructure). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Solaris component of Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite (subcomponent: Kernel). Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle CRM Technical Foundation component of Oracle E-Business Suite (subcomponent: User Interface). Rated high severity (CVSS 8.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Hospitality Simphony component of Oracle Food and Beverage Applications. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Hospitality Simphony component of Oracle Food and Beverage Applications. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle iSupport component of Oracle E-Business Suite (subcomponent: Service Requests). Rated high severity (CVSS 8.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle WebLogic Server component of Oracle Fusion Middleware (subcomponent: WLS Core Components). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Applications Manager component of Oracle E-Business Suite (subcomponent: Oracle Diagnostics Interfaces). Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle WebLogic Server component of Oracle Fusion Middleware (subcomponent: WLS Core Components). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Financial Services Analytical Applications Infrastructure component of Oracle Financial Services Applications (subcomponent: Infrastructure). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Java SE component of Oracle Java SE (subcomponent: JSSE). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required.
Vulnerability in the Java SE component of Oracle Java SE (subcomponent: Security). Rated low severity (CVSS 3.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Agile PLM component of Oracle Supply Chain Products Suite (subcomponent: Folders, Files & Attachments). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable.
Vulnerability in the Java SE, Java SE Embedded component of Oracle Java SE (subcomponent: Networking). Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required.
Vulnerability in the MySQL Server component of Oracle MySQL (subcomponent: InnoDB). Rated low severity (CVSS 2.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable.
Vulnerability in the Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking component of Oracle Financial Services Applications (subcomponent: Infrastructure). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the MySQL Server component of Oracle MySQL (subcomponent: Server: Audit Plug-in). Rated low severity (CVSS 3.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking component of Oracle Financial Services Applications (subcomponent: Infrastructure). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the MySQL Server component of Oracle MySQL (subcomponent: Server: Security: Privileges). Rated low severity (CVSS 2.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Solaris component of Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite (subcomponent: Automount). Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required.
Vulnerability in the Java SE, Java SE Embedded component of Oracle Java SE (subcomponent: Security). Rated low severity (CVSS 3.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Payments component of Oracle E-Business Suite (subcomponent: File Transmission). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Payments component of Oracle E-Business Suite (subcomponent: File Transmission). Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Hospitality Suite8 component of Oracle Hospitality Applications (subcomponent: XML Interface). Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Siebel Core - Common Components component of Oracle Siebel CRM (subcomponent: Email). Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable.
Vulnerability in the Siebel Core - Server Framework component of Oracle Siebel CRM (subcomponent: Search). Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Core RDBMS component of Oracle Database Server. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.6), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Payments component of Oracle E-Business Suite (subcomponent: File Transmission). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools component of Oracle PeopleSoft Products (subcomponent: Activity Guide). Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Hyperion Planning component of Oracle Hyperion (subcomponent: Smart View). Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the BI Publisher (formerly XML Publisher) component of Oracle Fusion Middleware (subcomponent: BI Publisher Security). Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the BI Publisher (formerly XML Publisher) component of Oracle Fusion Middleware (subcomponent: BI Publisher Security). Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Java SE, Java SE Embedded component of Oracle Java SE (subcomponent: Networking). Rated low severity (CVSS 3.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Hospitality Gift and Loyalty component of Oracle Food and Beverage Applications. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking component of Oracle Financial Services Applications (subcomponent: Infrastructure). Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle HTTP Server component of Oracle Fusion Middleware (subcomponent: OHS Config MBeans). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required.
Vulnerability in the MICROS Retail-J component of Oracle Retail Applications (subcomponent: Internal Operations). Rated high severity (CVSS 8.6), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the PeopleSoft Enterprise PT PeopleTools component of Oracle PeopleSoft Products (subcomponent: Application Server). Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable.
Vulnerability in the Java SE component of Oracle Java SE (subcomponent: Security). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required.
Vulnerability in the Oracle FLEXCUBE Universal Banking component of Oracle Financial Services Applications (subcomponent: Infrastructure). Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle BI Publisher component of Oracle Fusion Middleware (subcomponent: Web Service API). Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the MySQL Server component of Oracle MySQL (subcomponent: Server : Compiling). Rated low severity (CVSS 3.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable.
Vulnerability in the Oracle FLEXCUBE Investor Servicing component of Oracle Financial Services Applications (subcomponent: Infrastructure). Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Hyperion Workspace component of Oracle Hyperion (subcomponent: UI and Visualization). Rated low severity (CVSS 2.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Quick Facts
- Typical Severity
- CRITICAL
- Category
- auth
- Total CVEs
- 33094