CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2023-26481 — authentik is an open-source Identity Provider

Critical CVSS 9.1

authentik is an open-source Identity Provider. Due to an insufficient access check, a recovery flow link that is created by an admin (or sent via email by an admin) can be used to set the password for any arbitrary user. This attack is only possible if a recovery flow exists, which has both an Identification and an Email stage bound to it. If the flow has policies on the identification stage to skip it when the flow is restored (by checking `request.context['is_restored']`), the flow is not affected by this. With this flow in place, an administrator must create a recovery Link or send a recovery URL to the attacker, who can, due to the improper validation of the token create, set the password for any account. Regardless, for custom recovery flows it is recommended to add a policy that checks if the flow is restored, and skips the identification stage. This issue has been fixed in versions 2023.2.3, 2023.1.3 and 2022.12.2.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.1 (3.1)
Published
2023-03-04
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-345

Affected products

  • goauthentik / authentik

Showing 1 representative product identities from 3 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Supply-chain, dependency, build, and update integrity

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

Check exposure

  • Trace affected packages, source archives, build actions, plugins, installers, and updates from declared source to deployed artifact.
  • Confirm provenance, signatures or digests, namespace ownership, lockfile resolution, registry configuration, and build-runner trust boundaries.
  • Inventory direct, transitive, vendored, generated, and bundled copies across releases and distribution channels.

Remediate safely

  • Move to a maintained trusted artifact or remove the dependency; pin immutable identities and verify provenance and integrity before use.
  • Regenerate lockfiles and artifacts in a clean isolated build, minimize build credentials and network access, and produce an updated software bill of materials.
  • Require reviewed update policy, protected publishing, and reproducible or independently attestable builds where supported.

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.