CVE-2023-22492
Zitadel 2.0.0 – 2.16.4
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:NCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2023-22492 is a medium-severity Insufficient Session Expiration (CWE-613) vulnerability in Zitadel Zitadel. Its CVSS base score is 5.9 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked at the 47th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-0370
Vulnerability Data
ZITADEL is a combination of Auth0 and Keycloak. RefreshTokens is an OAuth 2.0 feature that allows applications to retrieve new access tokens and refresh the user's session without the need for interacting with a UI. RefreshTokens were not invalidated when…
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a user was locked or deactivated. The deactivated or locked user was able to obtain a valid access token only through a refresh token grant. When the locked or deactivated user’s session was already terminated (“logged out”) then it was not possible to create a new session. Renewal of access token through a refresh token grant is limited to the configured amount of time (RefreshTokenExpiration). As a workaround, ensure the RefreshTokenExpiration in the OIDC settings of your instance is set according to your security requirements. This issue has been patched in versions 2.17.3 and 2.16.4.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Locks the device (typically after inactivity) until re-authentication, addressing insufficient session expiration by preventing indefinite access.
Automatically terminating sessions after a defined period directly enforces session expiration, preventing indefinite session lifetimes that attackers can exploit.
Re-authentication after inactivity or time-based triggers prevents indefinite use of potentially hijacked or stale sessions.
Terminating sessions and network connections upon completion prevents insufficient session expiration.
Directly enforces termination of network sessions after inactivity or end-of-session, preventing indefinite session lifetime.
Consistent clocks across systems allow session expiration and timeout enforcement to function as intended in distributed environments.
When the non-persistent artifact is a session or connection, mandatory termination implements the missing expiration that CWE-613 describes.
Timed refresh of session-related information or on-demand generation plus deletion implements proper session expiration.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Credential lifecycle management directly includes enforcing session expiration to prevent reuse.
Authentication mechanisms can incorporate session timeout checks but do not inherently address expiration policy.
Authorization policy enforcement and review covers terminating stale sessions to limit access scope.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.