Security Resilience

CVE-2023-22893

Auth Bypass in Strapi 3.0.0 – 4.6.0

Public PoCAuth Bypass
Published
19 April 2023
Modified
07 November 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.041 91th percentile
Risk Priority 83 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-22893 is a high-severity Improper Authentication (CWE-287) vulnerability in Strapi Strapi. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

Strapi through version 4.5.5 contains an authentication flaw when the AWS Cognito OAuth provider is enabled. The software fails to validate access or ID tokens returned during the OAuth flow, specifically accepting tokens signed with the algorithm type "None."

A remote attacker with no credentials can exploit this condition by crafting a forged ID token and submitting it to the Strapi authentication endpoint. Successful exploitation grants the ability to impersonate any user who relies on AWS Cognito, resulting in unauthorized access to account data without requiring knowledge of passwords or valid tokens.

Public advisories from Strapi point to patched releases available on the project repository and recommend upgrading as the primary mitigation. The associated EPSS score rose from a low baseline to a peak of 0.7729 before receding to its current value of 0.5077, indicating increased exploitation interest after disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Strapi through 4.5.5 does not verify the access or ID tokens issued during the OAuth flow when the AWS Cognito login provider is used for authentication. A remote attacker could forge an ID token that is signed using the 'None'…

more

type algorithm to bypass authentication and impersonate any user that use AWS Cognito for authentication.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-39345Same product: Strapi Strapi
CVE-2025-53092Same product: Strapi Strapi
CVE-2026-57997Same product: Strapi Strapi
CVE-2019-18818Same product: Strapi Strapi
CVE-2024-37818Same product: Strapi Strapi
CVE-2023-38507Same product: Strapi Strapi
CVE-2023-37263Same product: Strapi Strapi
CVE-2025-64526Same product: Strapi Strapi
CVE-2024-34065Same product: Strapi Strapi
CVE-2024-31217Same product: Strapi Strapi

Affected Assets

strapi
strapi
3.0.0 — 4.6.0

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.

addresses: CWE-287

Detects unauthorized successful logons resulting from improper authentication implementations.

addresses: CWE-287

Documented procedures ensure personnel are trained on authentication mechanisms, tangibly lowering the risk of improper authentication being exploited.

addresses: CWE-287

Security awareness training instructs users on secure authentication practices and avoiding credential compromise.

addresses: CWE-287

Training on authentication mechanisms and best practices decreases the occurrence of improper authentication.

addresses: CWE-287

Non-repudiation requires strong authentication mechanisms to irrefutably attribute performed actions to specific individuals or processes.

addresses: CWE-287

Session content review can reveal authentication bypasses or failures in session establishment.

addresses: CWE-287

Review of authentication-related audit records can detect improper authentication mechanisms or bypasses.

addresses: CWE-287

Assessments check authentication mechanisms for correct implementation and effectiveness, reducing successful authentication bypass attempts.

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.

blocks

Mandating segregated approval and oversight for non-human identities reduces the chance that weak or orphaned credentials can be exploited for unauthorized authentication.

blocks

A.5.17 directly mandates generation of non-guessable unique secrets, secure transmission, immediate change of defaults/temporary creds, strong password enforcement, no-reuse, and compromise response, which stops most improper-authentication exploits at source; the bounded remainder is non-password authentication methods and sufficiency-of-proof cases (e.g. IA-2/IA-5 enhancements) left to other controls.

blocks

Security requirements specified early and verified through testing drive the consistent implementation of authentication mechanisms, decreasing the likelihood that authentication steps are omitted or incorrectly applied.

blocks

A.8.26 explicitly requires identifying and addressing authentication-related requirements (including level of trust in identity via 8.5 and 5.17) as part of application development or acquisition, which prevents a slice of CWE-287 but leaves the dominant sufficiency-of-proof aspects (IA-2/IA-5) and many implementation defects untouched.

blocks

A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (least privilege, default-deny, never-trust/always-verify, MFA, end-to-end encryption of requests, distrust-external-input, secure session control, and explicit authentication/authorization in every layer), which directly stops most improper-authentication flaws from being exploitable; the bounded remainder is insufficient-proof cases that live only in the strength or correctness of the credential itself (IA-5/IA-2 territory).

blocks

A.8.5 directly mandates appropriate-strength authentication techniques, MFA for critical systems, protected log-on procedures, brute-force resistance, no cleartext passwords/transmission, and session controls that stop exploitation of insufficient proof of identity; the bounded remainder is cases where the chosen technique itself is flawed or insufficiently implemented (e.g. weak biometrics without fallback).

Hardening callouts derived

DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.

  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-287, a class-level weakness. Rules are authored against its narrower children: CWE-295, CWE-306.

References