GHSA-cfjq-28r2-4jv5
Zitadel May Bypass Second Authentication Factor
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
Blast Radius
github.com/zitadel/zitadel/v2🐹github.com/zitadel/zitadel/v2🐹github.com/zitadel/zitadel/v2🐹github.com/zitadel/zitadelReal-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
Summary
A vulnerability in Zitadel's token verification prematurely marked sessions as authenticated when only one factor was verified.
Impact
Zitadel provides an API for managing sessions, enabling custom login experiences in a dedicated UI or direct integration into applications. Session Tokens are issued for active sessions, which can be used as Bearer tokens to call the Zitadel API.
Starting from 2.55.0 (see other affected versions below), Zitadel only required multi factor authentication in case the login policy has either enabled requireMFA or requireMFAForLocalUsers. If a user has set up MFA without this requirement, Zitadel would consider single factor auhtenticated sessions as valid as well and not require multiple factors.
Bypassing second authentication factors weakens multifactor authentication and enables attackers to bypass the more secure factor. An attacker can target the TOTP code alone, only six digits, bypassing password verification entirely and potentially compromising accounts with 2FA enabled.
Affected Versions
Systems using the session API (v2 beta and v2) directly or via the new login UI in the following versions are affected:
- 4.x:
4.0.0to4.5.0(including RC versions) - 3.x:
3.0.0to3.4.2(including RC versions) - 2.x:
v2.53.6tov2.53.9,v2.54.3tov2.54.10,2.55.0to2.71.17
Patches
The vulnerability has been addressed in the latest releases. The patch resolves the issue by requiring a configured second factor regardless of the login policies requireMFA or requireMFAForLocalUsers configuration.
4.x: Upgrade to >=4.6.0 3.x: Update to >=3.4.3 2.x: Update to >=2.71.18
Workarounds
The recommended solution is to update Zitadel to a patched version.
Questions
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please email us at [email protected]
Credits
This vulnerability was found by zentrust partners GmbH during a scheduled penetration test. Thank you to the analysts Martin Tschirsich, Joud Zakharia, Christopher Baumann. The full report will be made public after the complete review.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/zitadel/zitadel/v2 | ≥ 2.53.6 | No fix |
| 🐹Go | github.com/zitadel/zitadel/v2 | ≥ 2.54.3 | No fix |
| 🐹Go | github.com/zitadel/zitadel/v2 | ≥ 2.55.0&&< 2.71.18 | 2.71.18 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/zitadel/zitadel | all versions | 1.80.0-v2.20.0.20251029091250-b284f8474eed |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/zitadel/zitadel/v2. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
No patched version of github.com/zitadel/zitadel/v2 has shipped for GHSA-cfjq-28r2-4jv5 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-cfjq-28r2-4jv5 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-cfjq-28r2-4jv5. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-cfjq-28r2-4jv5 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-cfjq-28r2-4jv5 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.