Strapi has a rate limit bypass on users-permissions plugin via attacker-controlled email keying

Summary

CVE	CVE-2025-64526
State	PUBLISHED
Assigner	GitHub_M
Source Priority	CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published	2026-05-14 19:16:29 UTC
Updated	2026-05-14 21:23:28 UTC
Description	Strapi is an open source headless content management system. In Strapi versions prior to 5.45.0, the rate-limit middleware in the users-permissions plugin derived its rate-limit key in part from `ctx.request.body.email`, including on routes whose body schema does not contain an `email` field (`/auth/local`, `/auth/reset-password`, `/auth/change-password`). An unauthenticated attacker could include an arbitrary `email` value in the request body to obtain a fresh rate-limit key per request, effectively bypassing per-IP throttling on those routes and enabling high-volume credential brute-force, password-reset code brute-force, and credential-stuffing attempts. The rate-limit key was constructed as `${userIdentifier}:${requestPath}:${ctx.request.ip}`, where `userIdentifier = ctx.request.body.email`. On routes that legitimately use email as their identifier (e.g. `/auth/forgot-password`, `/auth/local/register`), this scoping is correct. On routes that use a different identifier (`identifier` for login, `code` for password reset, `currentPassword` for password change), the email field was not part of the route contract, but the middleware still incorporated it into the key, allowing a caller to rotate the value and obtain a unique key on every request. The patch in version 5.45.0 maintains an allow-list of routes that legitimately key on the email field and excludes that key component on every other route the middleware is mounted on. OAuth callback paths (`/connect/*`) are treated identifier-less. On routes outside the allow-list, the middleware now falls back to a fixed identifier-less key, ensuring per-IP throttling remains effective even when the request body is attacker-controlled.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v4.0 6.9 MEDIUM from [email protected]

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Problem Types: CWE-307 | CWE-307 CWE-307: Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts

Version	Source	Type	Score	Severity	Vector
4.0	[email protected]	Secondary	6.9	MEDIUM	`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C...`
4.0	CNA	DECLARED	6.9	MEDIUM	`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`

CVSS v4.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Attack Requirements

None

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

Low

Sub Conf.

None

Sub Integrity

None

Sub Availability

None

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Vendor Declared Affected Products

Source	Vendor	Product	Version	Platforms
CNA	Strapi	Strapi	affected < 5.45.0	Not specified
CNA	Strapi	@strapi/plugin-users-permissions	affected < 5.45.0	Not specified

References

Reference	Source	Link	Tags
github.com/strapi/strapi/releases/tag/v5.45.0	[email protected]	github.com
github.com/strapi/strapi/pull/24818	[email protected]	github.com
github.com/strapi/strapi/commit/5e0d243cba9830e6f791de6a94798bcde51468db	[email protected]	github.com
github.com/strapi/strapi/security/advisories/GHSA-7mqx-wwh4-f9fw	[email protected]	github.com
CVE Program record	CVE.ORG	www.cve.org	canonical
NVD vulnerability detail	NVD	nvd.nist.gov	canonical, analysis

No vendor comments have been submitted for this CVE.

There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.