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AuthentikApplication · Goauthentik

CVE-2022-46145

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-12-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2022.10.2 / 2022.11.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
authentik is an open-source identity provider. Versions prior to 2022.11.2 and 2022.10.2 are vulnerable to unauthorized user creation and potential account takeover. With the default flows, unauthenticated users can create new accounts in authentik. If a flow exists that allows for email-verified password recovery, this can be used to overwrite the email address of admin accounts and take over their accounts. authentik 2022.11.2 and 2022.10.2 fix this issue. As a workaround, a policy can be created and bound to the `default-user-settings-flow flow` with the contents `return request.user.is_authenticated`.

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 · high confidence

This vulnerability in authentik versions prior to 2022.11.2 and 2022.10.2 allows unauthenticated users to create new accounts via default flows. When combined with email-verified password recovery flows, attackers can overwrite admin email addresses and take over admin accounts, achieving full privilege escalation.

MitigationUpgrade to authentik 2022.11.2 or 2022.10.2 to patch the vulnerability. Alternatively, create and bind a policy requiring authentication to the default-user-settings-flow.

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
AuthentikApplication
Affected:< 2022.10.2>= 2022.11, < 2022.11.2

CVSS 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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed authentik version
    Run 'authentik --version' or check the version in the admin interface under the About section
    Affected if The installed version is prior to 2022.10.2, or is 2022.11.0 or 2022.11.1 (falls within < 2022.10.2 or >= 2022.11, < 2022.11.2)
  2. Verify default-user-settings-flow access control
    In the authentik admin interface, navigate to Flows and examine the default-user-settings-flow. Check whether a policy requiring authentication is bound to this flow
    Affected if The default-user-settings-flow has no authentication policy bound, meaning unauthenticated users can access it
  3. Check default enrollment flow accessibility
    In the Flows section, examine the default enrollment flow configuration. Determine if this flow is publicly accessible without requiring prior authentication
    Affected if The default enrollment flow is exposed to unauthenticated users without authentication requirements
  4. Confirm email-verified password recovery is enabled
    In the authentik admin interface, navigate to the password recovery settings. Identify if an email-verified recovery flow is configured as the default recovery mechanism
    Affected if An email-verified password recovery flow is active and configured as the default recovery option

A user is affected if running a vulnerable authentik version (prior to 2022.10.2 or between 2022.11.0 and 2022.11.1) AND has default flows accessible to unauthenticated users, particularly when combined with an email-verified password recovery flow.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2022.10.2 / 2022.11.2 or later
Fixed in 2022.10.22022.11.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to authentik 2022.11.2 or 2022.10.2 to patch the vulnerability. Alternatively, create and bind a policy requiring authentication to the default-user-settings-flow.

Recommended fix High confidence

2022.10.2 or 2022.11.2 (depending on your current version branch)

  1. 1. Identify your current authentik version by checking the admin interface or running `authentik version`
  2. 2. Create a full backup of your authentik installation including database and configuration
  3. 3. If running version 2022.10.x: upgrade to 2022.10.2
  4. 4. If running version 2022.11.x: upgrade to 2022.11.2
  5. 5. If using docker: pull the new image and recreate containers with `docker-compose up -d`
  6. 6. If using other installation methods, follow the official upgrade documentation for your method
  7. 7. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the version in the admin interface
  8. 8. Test that unauthenticated users can no longer create accounts

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Authentik Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,950
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-46145 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data