Client secret disclosure via nested provider serialization
Published May 22, 2026 · Updated May 22, 2026
Incorrect authorization in authentik before 2025.12.5 and 2026.2.0-rc1 through 2026.2.2 allows remote authenticated users to read client secrets. The access-token list serializer embeds a provider object containing client_id and client_secret instead of omitting confidential provider credentials from low-privilege API responses. Exploitation requires a non-admin account with at least one access token from a completed OAuth2 flow, and disclosure is limited to confidential providers previously used by that account.
Summary
What happened
Incorrect authorization in authentik before 2025.12.5 and 2026.2.0-rc1 through 2026.2.2 allows remote authenticated users to read client secrets. The access-token list serializer embeds a provider object containing client_id and client_secret instead of omitting confidential provider credentials from low-privilege API responses. Exploitation requires a non-admin account with at least one access token from a completed OAuth2 flow, and disclosure is limited to confidential providers previously used by that account.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-40166
- Published
- May 22, 2026
- Updated
- May 22, 2026
- Vendor
- Authentik Security Inc.
- Product
- authentik
- Classifications
- CWE-200, CWE-863, T1552
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 22, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 22, 2026Record 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.
- Affected versionversion=< 2025.12.5
- Affected versionversion=>= 2026.2.0-rc1, < 2026.2.3
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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