CVE-2023-26481 [Critical] | Security Vulnerability in Authentik

authentik is an open-source Identity Provider. Due to an insufficient access check, a recovery flow link that is created by an admin (or sent via email by an admin) can be used to set the password for any arbitrary user. This attack is only possible if a recovery flow exists, which has both an Identification and an Email stage bound to it. If the flow has policies on the identification stage to skip it when the flow is restored (by checking `request.context['is_restored']`), the flow is not affected by this. With this flow in place, an administrator must create a recovery Link or send a recovery URL to the attacker, who can, due to the improper validation of the token create, set the password for any account. Regardless, for custom recovery flows it is recommended to add a policy that checks if the flow is restored, and skips the identification stage. This issue has been fixed in versions 2023.2.3, 2023.1.3 and 2022.12.2.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-03-06	0.17%	0.10%	-0.07%
2	2026-03-05	0.04%	0.17%	+0.13%
3	2026-03-04	—	0.04%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-03-06

0.17%

0.10%

-0.07%

2026-03-05

0.04%

0.17%

+0.13%

2026-03-04

—

0.04%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
9.1	3.1	CRITICAL	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:N) Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:H) They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:C) Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	2.3	6.0	[email protected]
6.5	3.1	MEDIUM	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:N) Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:N) No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough. User interaction (UI:R) A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:N) Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:N) Service keeps running; no real outage angle.	2.8	3.6	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

9.1

3.1

CRITICAL

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:N): Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:H): They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C): Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

2.3

6.0

[email protected]

6.5

3.1

MEDIUM

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

Attack vector (AV:N): Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N): No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R): A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N): Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N): Service keeps running; no real outage angle.

2.8

3.6

[email protected]

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-26481

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
goauthentik	authentik	< 2022.12.3	cpe:2.3:a:goauthentik:authentik::::::::
goauthentik	authentik	> 2023.1.0, <= 2023.1.3	cpe:2.3:a:goauthentik:authentik::::::::
goauthentik	authentik	> 2023.2.0, <= 2023.2.3	cpe:2.3:a:goauthentik:authentik::::::::

References for CVE-2023-26481

URL	Tags
https://github.com/goauthentik/authentik/security/advisories/GHSA-3xf5-pqvf-rqq3	Third Party Advisory
https://goauthentik.io/docs/releases/2023.2#fixed-in-202323	Release Notes

URL

CVE-2023-26481 | Insufficient user check in FlowTokens by Email stage

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-26481

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-26481

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-26481

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-26481

References for CVE-2023-26481