authentik: Privilege Escalation via User PATCH: Superuser Group Assignment Bypasses enable_group_superuser

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-40172
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-05-22 19:17:03 UTC
Updated2026-07-23 16:10:00 UTC
Descriptionauthentik is an open-source identity provider. In versions prior to 2025.12.5 and 2026.2.0-rc1 through 2026.2.2, the PATCH /api/v3/core/users/{pk}/ API allows a caller with change_user on a target user to assign arbitrary groups through UserSerializer, including groups with is_superuser=True, without requiring enable_group_superuser, leading to privilege escalation. This bypasses the stricter permission model enforced in group-management paths and enables delegated user-management permissions to escalate target users to administrator-equivalent privilege. Users with permissions to update groups or permissions to update users are able to add themselves or other users they have permissions on to users which have superuser permissions. This issue has been fixed in versions 22025.12.5 and 2026.2.3.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 8.1 HIGH from [email protected]

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

EPSS: 0.005350000 probability, percentile 0.418550000 (date 2026-07-23)

Problem Types: CWE-269 | CWE-269 CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary8.1HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
3.1CNADECLARED8.1HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Goauthentik Authentik affected < 2025.12.5 Not specified
CNA Goauthentik Authentik affected >= 2026.2.0-rc1, < 2026.2.3 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/goauthentik/authentik/security/advisories/GHSA-h6x7-hjjc-wjc9 [email protected] github.com
github.com/goauthentik/authentik/releases/tag/version%2F2025.12.5 [email protected] github.com
github.com/goauthentik/authentik/releases/tag/version%2F2026.2.3 [email protected] github.com
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