Go SamlApplication · Robotsandpencils
CVE-2023-48703
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 · uneditedRobotsAndPencils go-saml, a SAML client library written in Go, contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in all known versions. This is due to how the `xmlsec1` command line tool is called internally to verify the signature of SAML assertions. When `xmlsec1` is used without defining the enabled key data, the origin of the public key for the signature verification is, unfortunately, not restricted. That means an attacker can sign the SAML assertions themselves and provide the required public key (e.g. an RSA key) directly embedded in the SAML token. Projects still using RobotsAndPencils/go-saml should move to another SAML library or alternatively remove support for SAML from their projects. The vulnerability can likely temporarily be fixed by forking the go-saml project and adding the command line argument `--enabled-key-data` and specifying a value such as `x509` or `raw-x509-cert` when calling the `xmlsec1` binary in the verify function. Please note that this workaround must be carefully tested before it can be used.
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 · low confidenceAffected 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
Go SamlApplication
all versionsCVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
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- 1. Identify all projects and services currently using RobotsAndPencils/go-saml library
- 2. Evaluate alternative SAML libraries for Go (such as okta/go-saml, OneLogin/go-saml, or other maintained options)
- 3. Plan migration from go-saml to the chosen alternative library
- 4. Implement the migration, ensuring SAML authentication flow works correctly with the new library
- 5. Test the new implementation thoroughly, including signature verification and edge cases
- 6. Deploy the updated services and remove go-saml dependency
- 7. Monitor for any authentication issues post-deployment
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
No vendor fix exists
Go Saml has not published a patch for this.
There is no version to upgrade to and no patch to apply. Every affected install stays exposed until the vendor ships a fix — or somebody else builds one.
Free. We build fixes in the order the community asks for them — and we’ll tell you the moment this one lands.
We develop and verify an original fix where the vendor hasn’t, from $1,950. Deployed to your staging first — never straight to production.
Scope it with usSee what else the community needs solved on the solutions-needed board.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-48703 — 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-2023-48703 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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