GHSA-jq8w-8q2f-ffm9
GHSA-jq8w-8q2f-ffm9 is a CWE-863 vulnerability in github.com/zitadel/zitadel. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-jq8w-8q2f-ffm9 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
ZITADEL Users Can Self-Verify Email/Phone via API
Blast Radius
github.com/zitadel/zitadel🐹github.com/zitadel/zitadel🐹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 self-management capability allowed users to mark their email and phone as verified without going through an actual verification process.
While GHSA-282g-fhmx-xf54 (CVE-2026-27946, "Users Can Self-Verify Email/Phone via UpdateHumanUser API") closed the path that let any authenticated user mark an arbitrary email or phone as verified on their own account by calling UpdateHumanUser with email.is_verified: true, additional paths were discovered.
Impact
Zitadel provides an API for managing users. The API also allows users to self-manage their own data including updating the email and phone.
Due to an improper permission check, the API allowed returning the verification code for the email and phone to the own user. This allows users to claim ownership of an email or phone they do not control and potentially bypass email-based security policies.
Note that when changing another user's email or phone, regardless of the verification flag, the permissions were correctly checked.
Affected Versions
Systems running one of the following versions are affected:
- 4.x:
4.0.0through4.15.0(including RC versions) - 3.x:
3.0.0through3.4.10(including RC versions) - 2.x:
2.43.0through2.71.19
Patches
The vulnerability has been addressed in the latest releases. The patch resolves the issue by requiring the correct permission in case the verification flag is provided and only allows self-management of the email address, resp. phone number itself.
4.x: Upgrade to >=4.15.1 3.x: Update to >=3.4.11 2.x: Update to >=3.4.11
Workarounds
The recommended solution is to upgrade to a patched version. If an upgrade is not possible, an action (v2) could be used to prevent returning the verification code to the own user.
Questions
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please email us at [email protected]
Credits
Thanks to eddieran for reporting this vulnerability.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/zitadel/zitadel | ≥ 4.0.0 | No fix |
| 🐹Go | github.com/zitadel/zitadel | ≥ 2.43.0 | No fix |
| 🐹Go | github.com/zitadel/zitadel | all versions | 1.80.0-v2.20.0.20260608144108-ed09b3df7f43 |
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. 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 has shipped for GHSA-jq8w-8q2f-ffm9 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-jq8w-8q2f-ffm9 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-jq8w-8q2f-ffm9. 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-jq8w-8q2f-ffm9 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-jq8w-8q2f-ffm9 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.