CVE-2026-45631
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 · uneditedDokploy is a free, self-hostable Platform as a Service (PaaS). From 0.27.0 to before 0.29.3, a hardcoded BETTER_AUTH_SECRET fallback ("better-auth-secret-123456789") lets an unauthenticated attacker forge email verification JWTs, trigger auto-sign-in as admin, and execute commands on the host via the built-in SSH terminal. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.29.3.
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 confidenceDokploy versions 0.27.0 through 0.29.2 contain a hardcoded fallback BETTER_AUTH_SECRET ('better-auth-secret-123456789'). An unauthenticated attacker can use this known secret to forge email verification JWTs, achieve admin auto-sign-in, and execute arbitrary commands on the host through the built-in SSH terminal feature.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Dokploy installation and versionRun 'dokploy version' or check the Docker container image tag. If using docker-compose, inspect the dokploy service image version.Affected if Version is 0.27.0, 0.27.1, 0.27.2, 0.28.0, 0.28.1, 0.28.2, 0.29.0, 0.29.1, or 0.29.2
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Locate Dokploy environment configurationFind the docker-compose.yml, .env file, or container environment variables where BETTER_AUTH_SECRET is defined.Affected if The configuration file or container shows BETTER_AUTH_SECRET is not set (empty) or is set to the default value 'better-auth-secret-123456789'
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Verify the actual runtime environment variableInspect the running container's environment with 'docker exec <container> env | grep BETTER_AUTH_SECRET' or check via container orchestration dashboard.Affected if BETTER_AUTH_SECRET equals 'better-auth-secret-123456789' or is absent from the runtime environment
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Check for hardcoded secret in Dokploy source or configIf you have access to the Dokploy installation directory, search for the string 'better-auth-secret-123456789' in configuration files or environment templates.Affected if The hardcoded fallback secret is found in any configuration file
You are affected if Dokploy version is between 0.27.0 and 0.29.2 AND BETTER_AUTH_SECRET is either unset or set to the default value 'better-auth-secret-123456789'.
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 Dokploy to version 0.29.3 or later, and ensure BETTER_AUTH_SECRET is set to a strong, unique value in production deployments.
0.29.3
- Upgrade Dokploy to version 0.29.3 or later to remediate the hardcoded BETTER_AUTH_SECRET vulnerability
- After upgrading, verify that custom configurations do not contain the hardcoded fallback secret ('better-auth-secret-123456789')
- Review authentication logs to ensure no unauthorized admin access occurred prior to the upgrade
- If custom deployments exist, ensure they are redeployed with the patched version
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-45631 — 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-2026-45631 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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- 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
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