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AuthentikApplication · Goauthentik

CVE-2023-48228

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2023.8.5 / 2023.10.4 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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. When initialising a oauth2 flow with a `code_challenge` and `code_method` (thus requesting PKCE), the single sign-on provider (authentik) must check if there is a matching and existing `code_verifier` during the token step. Prior to versions 2023.10.4 and 2023.8.5, authentik checks if the contents of `code_verifier` is matching only when it is provided. When it is left out completely, authentik simply accepts the token request with out it; even when the flow was started with a `code_challenge`. authentik 2023.8.5 and 2023.10.4 fix this issue.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-287

The mechanism that verifies who a user is can be side-stepped or fooled, letting an attacker act as someone they're not. Everything built on top of that identity then becomes untrustworthy. Fixing it means hardening the full authentication flow, including edge cases, tokens, and secondary paths.

General guidance for the improper authentication class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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:< 2023.8.5>= 2023.10.0, < 2023.10.4

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

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 2023.8.5 / 2023.10.4 or later
Fixed in 2023.8.52023.10.4
Vendor patch github.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to authentik version 2023.10.4 (or later) - alternatively version 2023.8.5 or later if staying on the 2023.8 branch

  1. 1. Identify the currently running Authentik version using the admin interface or `docker ps` / container management system
  2. 2. If running a version < 2023.8.5 or >= 2023.10.0 but < 2023.10.4, plan for upgrade
  3. 3. For Docker-based deployments: Update the image tag in docker-compose.yml or your container orchestration to use version 2023.10.4 or later (e.g., `goauthentik/server:2023.10.4`)
  4. 4. For pip/standalone installations: Run `pip install authentik==2023.10.4` or later
  5. 5. Backup the existing database and configuration files before upgrading
  6. 6. Apply the upgrade following the official Authentik upgrade documentation
  7. 7. After upgrade, verify the OAuth2 flow with PKCE now correctly requires and validates code_verifier
  8. 8. Test that token requests without code_verifier are rejected when the flow was initiated with code_challenge
Caveat Review the Authentik 2023.10.x release notes for any breaking changes between your current version and 2023.10.4, including potential database migrations

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $2,300. Get the upgrade done

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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-2023-48228 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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