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CVE-2026-40165
Published:May 20, 2026
Updated:June 11, 2026
authentik is an open-source identity provider. Versions 2025.12.4 and prior, and versions 2026.2.0-rc1 through 2026.2.2 were vulnerable to Authentication Bypass through SAML NameID XML Comment Injection. Due to how authentik extracted the NameID value from a SAML assertion, it was possible for an attacker to trick authentik into only seeing a part of the NameID value, potentially allowing an attacker to gain access to other accounts. This issue could be exploited on an authentik instance with a SAML Source, where the attacker had an account on the SAML Source and the ability to modify their NameID value (commonly username or E-mail), and XML Signing was enabled. The attacker could modify the SAML assertion given to authentik by injecting a comment within the NameID value, which effectively truncated the NameID value to the snippet before the comment, and gave the attacker access to any user account. This issue has been fixed in versions 2025.12.5 and 2026.2.3.
Affected Packages
https://github.com/goauthentik/authentik.git (GITHUB):
Affected version(s) >=version/2026.2.0-rc1 <version/2026.2.3
Fix Suggestion:
Update to version version/2026.2.3
https://github.com/goauthentik/authentik.git (GITHUB):
Affected version(s) >=version/0.0.2-alpha <version/2025.12.5
Fix Suggestion:
Update to version version/2025.12.5
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CVSS v4
Base Score:
9.4
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
HIGH
Attack Requirements
NONE
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Vulnerable System Confidentiality
HIGH
Vulnerable System Integrity
HIGH
Vulnerable System Availability
NONE
Subsequent System Confidentiality
HIGH
Subsequent System Integrity
HIGH
Subsequent System Availability
NONE
CVSS v3
Base Score:
8.7
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
HIGH
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
CHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
NONE
Weakness Type (CWE)
Improper Authentication
XML Injection (aka Blind XPath Injection)
Interpretation Conflict
EPSS
Base Score:
0.02