CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2022-31013 — Chat Server is the chat server for Vartalap, an open-source messaging application

Critical CVSS 9.8

Chat Server is the chat server for Vartalap, an open-source messaging application. Versions 2.3.2 until 2.6.0 suffer from a bug in validating the access token, resulting in authentication bypass. The function `this.authProvider.verifyAccessKey` is an async function, as the code is not using `await` to wait for the verification result. Every time the function responds back with success, along with an unhandled exception if the token is invalid. A patch is available in version 2.6.0.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.8 (3.1)
Published
2022-05-31
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-287, CWE-20

Affected products

  • chat_server_project / chat_server

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

The detailed catalog view below loads this exact record, its source evidence, and the full seven-phase agentic change plan.