CVE-2023-26481Network attack vector

Arbitrary account takeover via misbound recovery token

Published Mar 4, 2023 · Updated Feb 25, 2025

Improper access control in affected authentik releases allows remote authenticated users to reset any account password via a recovery link. FlowToken restoration preserves user selection, allowing the Identification and Email stages to bind the restored token to a different pending user. Exploitation requires a recovery flow containing both stages without a restored-flow skip policy and an administrator-created or administrator-sent recovery URL.

CVSS severity9.1
Critical
EPSS probability0.27%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper access control in affected authentik releases allows remote authenticated users to reset any account password via a recovery link. FlowToken restoration preserves user selection, allowing the Identification and Email stages to bind the restored token to a different pending user. Exploitation requires a recovery flow containing both stages without a restored-flow skip policy and an administrator-created or administrator-sent recovery URL.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-26481
Published
Mar 4, 2023
Updated
Feb 25, 2025
Vendor
Authentik Security Inc.
Product
authentik
Classifications
CWE-345, T1098
Attack vector
network
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 4, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 25, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 2022.12.2
  2. Affected versionversion=< 2023.1.3
  3. Affected versionversion=< 2023.2.3

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

Authentik Security Inc. · authentikversion=< 2022.12.2; version=< 2023.1.3; version=< 2023.2.3

Published CVSS scores

9.1GitHubCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-345Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity
T1098Account Manipulation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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