How severe is CVE-2024-28197?

CVE-2024-28197 has a CVSS score of 7.5/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2024-28197?

CVE-2024-28197 affects the following packages: github.com/zitadel/zitadel (Go), github.com/zitadel/zitadel (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix CVE-2024-28197?

Update github.com/zitadel/zitadel to 2.44.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-28197 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2024-28197 in my Go dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/zitadel/zitadel, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2024-28197 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.

Is CVE-2024-28197 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2024-28197 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2024-28197?

CVE-2024-28197 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.3%, placing it in the 27th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2024-28197?

CVE-2024-28197 is classified as Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269), CWE-384 (CWE-384). These weakness types describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2024-28197 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2024-28197 was published on March 11, 2024 and was last updated on October 28, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐹

🐹 Go

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

CVE-2024-28197 — zitadel

HIGHFix: zitadel/zitadel@d4c553b

CVE-2024-28197 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in github.com/zitadel/zitadel. A fix is available for github.com/zitadel/zitadel — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Account Takeover via Session Fixation in Zitadel [Bypassing MFA]

Also known asGHSA-mq4x-r2w3-j7mrGO-2024-2637

Published

Mar 11, 2024

Updated

Oct 28, 2026

Affected

2 pkgs

Patched

2 / 2

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 7, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

No confirmed exploitation observed yet

A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-28197.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.3%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs27th percentile — riskier than 27% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

2 pkgs affected

🐹github.com/zitadel/zitadel🐹github.com/zitadel/zitadel

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

Impact

ZITADEL uses a cookie to identify the user agent (browser) and its user sessions.

Although the cookie was handled according to best practices, it was accessible on subdomains of the ZITADEL instance. An attacker could take advantage of this and provide a malicious link hosted on the subdomain to the user to gain access to the victim’s account in certain scenarios. A possible victim would need to login through the malicious link for this exploit to work.

If the possible victim already had the cookie present, the attack would not succeed. The attack would further only be possible if there was an initial vulnerability on the subdomain. This could either be the attacker being able to control DNS or a XSS vulnerability in an application hosted on a subdomain.

Patches

2.x versions are fixed on >= 2.46.0 2.45.x versions are fixed on >= 2.45.1 2.44.x versions are fixed on >= 2.44.3

ZITADEL recommends upgrading to the latest versions available in due course.

Note that applying the patch will invalidate the current cookie and thus users will need to start a new session and existing sessions (user selection) will be empty.

Workarounds

For self-hosted environments unable to upgrade to a patched version, prevent setting the following cookie name on subdomains of your ZITADEL instance (e.g. within your WAF): __Secure-zitadel-useragent

References

None

Questions

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please email us at [email protected]

Credits

Thanks to Amit Laish – GE Vernova for finding and reporting the vulnerability.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`github.com/zitadel/zitadel`	all versions	2.44.3`go get github.com/zitadel/zitadel@v2.44.3`
🐹Go	`github.com/zitadel/zitadel`	≥ 2.45.0&&< 2.45.1	2.45.1`go get github.com/zitadel/zitadel@v2.45.1`

Affected Products

1 product · 5 configurations

Application

zitadelzitadel

< 2.44.3

2 versions

2.45.02.46.0

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/zitadel/zitadel, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/zitadel/zitadel to 2.44.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-28197 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact ZITADEL uses a cookie to identify the user agent (browser) and its user sessions. Although the cookie was handled according to best practices, it was accessible on subdomains of the ZITADEL instance. An attacker could take advantage of this and provide a malicious link hosted on the subdomain to the user to gain access to the victim’s account in certain scenarios. A possible victim would need to login through the malicious link for this exploit to work. If the possible victim already had the cookie present, the attack would not succeed. The attack would further only be possible