Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-39522

Goauthentik Authentik ≤ 2023.5.6

Published
29 August 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0051 41th percentile
Risk Priority 46 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-39522 is a medium-severity Observable Discrepancy (CWE-203) vulnerability in Goauthentik Authentik. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Account Discovery (T1087); ranked at the 41th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

goauthentik is an open-source Identity Provider. In affected versions using a recovery flow with an identification stage an attacker is able to determine if a username exists. Only setups configured with a recovery flow are impacted by this. Anyone with…

more

a user account on a system with the recovery flow described above is susceptible to having their username/email revealed as existing. An attacker can easily enumerate and check users' existence using the recovery flow, as a clear message is shown when a user doesn't exist. Depending on configuration this can either be done by username, email, or both. This issue has been addressed in versions 2023.5.6 and 2023.6.2. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this issue.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1087 Account Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of valid accounts, usernames, or email addresses on a system or within a compromised environment.
T1110 Brute Force Credential Access
Adversaries may use brute force techniques to gain access to accounts when passwords are unknown or when password hashes are obtained.
T1595 Active Scanning Reconnaissance
Adversaries may execute active reconnaissance scans to gather information that can be used during targeting.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-52307Same product: Goauthentik Authentik
CVE-2025-64708Same product: Goauthentik Authentik
CVE-2025-64521Same product: Goauthentik Authentik
CVE-2024-47070Same product: Goauthentik Authentik
CVE-2024-21637Same product: Goauthentik Authentik
CVE-2026-47201Same product: Goauthentik Authentik
CVE-2026-49448Same product: Goauthentik Authentik
CVE-2024-42490Same product: Goauthentik Authentik
CVE-2026-25748Same product: Goauthentik Authentik
CVE-2024-23647Same product: Goauthentik Authentik

Affected Assets

goauthentik
authentik
≤ 2023.5.6 · 2023.6.0 — 2023.6.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 1 hardening rule · 1 OS baseline
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

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-203

Misdirection can normalize or falsify responses to eliminate observable discrepancies that aid reconnaissance.

addresses: CWE-203

Observable discrepancies in system behavior can be modulated to create covert storage or timing channels; the required analysis detects and constrains such avenues.

addresses: CWE-203

Prevents attackers from using observable differences in error responses to infer internal system details or state.

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.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent observable response discrepancies via consistent error handling and timing.

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.

none

Accurate, synchronized timestamps reduce observable timing discrepancies that an attacker could exploit to infer sensitive information or distinguish between success and failure paths.

References