CVE-2022-23505
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedPassport-wsfed-saml2 is a ws-federation protocol and SAML2 tokens authentication provider for Passport. In versions prior to 4.6.3, a remote attacker may be able to bypass WSFed authentication on a website using passport-wsfed-saml2. A successful attack requires that the attacker is in possession of an arbitrary IDP signed assertion. Depending on the IDP used, fully unauthenticated attacks (e.g without access to a valid user) might also be feasible if generation of a signed message can be triggered. This issue is patched in version 4.6.3. Use of SAML2 authentication instead of WSFed is a workaround.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceThe passport-wsfed-saml2 library has an authentication bypass vulnerability in versions prior to 4.6.3. A remote attacker with possession of an arbitrary IDP-signed assertion can bypass WSFed authentication. Depending on the identity provider configuration, fully unauthenticated attacks may also be possible if the system can be triggered into generating a signed message.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 4.6.2CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify if passport-wsfed-saml2 is in useSearch your package.json, package-lock.json, or node_modules for the passport-wsfed-saml2 dependencyAffected if The library is present in dependencies and is being used for authentication
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Check the installed versionRun npm list passport-wsfed-saml2 or inspect your package-lock.json for the exact version numberAffected if The version is 4.6.2 or lower (vulnerable)
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Verify WSFed authentication is enabledInspect your application configuration or authentication setup code for WSFed strategy usage (passport-wsfed-saml2)Affected if WSFed authentication is actively configured and in use
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Check identity provider configurationReview your IDP settings in the WSFed configuration, looking for trust relationships and assertion validation settingsAffected if IDP is configured to accept signed assertions that could be manipulated
You are affected if passport-wsfed-saml2 version 4.6.2 or lower is installed and WSFed authentication is actively configured in your environment.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade passport-wsfed-saml2 to version 4.6.3 or higher. As an alternative workaround, migrate from WSFed to SAML2 authentication.
4.6.3
- Identify the project dependency file (package.json, yarn.lock, or similar) that contains passport-wsfed-saml2
- Update the passport-wsfed-saml2 dependency version to 4.6.3 or later
- Run npm install or yarn install to update the package
- Verify the authentication flow works correctly after the upgrade
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-23505 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-23505 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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