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GHSA-vvf7-6rmr-m29q

CriticalCVSS 9.8 / 10
Published Apr 24, 2026·Last modified May 9, 2026
Affected Components(0)

No affected components available

Description

Summary

Dgraph v25.3.2 still exposes the process command line through the unauthenticated /debug/vars endpoint on Alpha. Because the admin token is commonly supplied via the --security "token=..." startup flag, an unauthenticated attacker can retrieve that token and replay it in the X-Dgraph-AuthToken header to access admin-only endpoints.

This is a variant of the previously fixed /debug/pprof/cmdline issue, but the current fix is incomplete because it blocks only /debug/pprof/cmdline and still serves http.DefaultServeMux, which includes expvar's /debug/vars handler.

Details

Alpha still exposes Go's default HTTP mux:

  • x/metrics.go
    • imports expvar
    • initializes Conf = expvar.NewMap("dgraph_config")
  • Go's expvar package automatically registers /debug/vars
  • expvar publishes:
    • cmdline = os.Args
    • memstats = runtime.Memstats

Alpha's HTTP handler explicitly blocks only the old CVE path:

  • dgraph/cmd/alpha/run.go
    • checks if r.URL.Path == "/debug/pprof/cmdline" and returns 404
    • otherwise falls through to http.DefaultServeMux.ServeHTTP(w, r)

Admin endpoints still trust the leaked token:

  • dgraph/cmd/alpha/admin.go
    • reads X-Dgraph-AuthToken
    • compares it to worker.Config.AuthToken

PoC

  1. Send an unauthenticated request to Alpha:
GET /debug/vars HTTP/1.1
Host: target:8080

  1. Parse the JSON response and read the cmdline field.

  2. Extract the admin token from the startup arguments, for example:

--security token=debug-vars-secret;
  1. Replay the token to an admin-only endpoint:
GET /admin/config/cache_mb HTTP/1.1
Host: target:8080
X-Dgraph-AuthToken: debug-vars-secret
  1. The request is accepted as an authorized admin request.

This was reproduced against dgraph/dgraph:v25.3.2 in Docker.

Observed behavior:

  • unauthenticated /debug/vars leaked the configured token
  • replaying the leaked token in X-Dgraph-AuthToken successfully accessed /admin/config/cache_mb
  • response body was:
4096

It was verified that the old CVE path appears specifically patched in the same version:

  • /debug/pprof/cmdline returned 404 Not Found
  • /debug/pprof/ remained reachable

Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can obtain the Alpha admin token and gain unauthorized administrative access.

This enables privileged admin operations such as:

  • reading privileged admin configuration
  • mutating admin configuration
  • performing operational control actions gated by X-Dgraph-AuthToken

In deployments where the Alpha HTTP port is reachable by untrusted parties, this is a practical authentication bypass to admin functionality.

Risk Scores
Base Score
9.8

The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is easy for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker does not need any special privileges or access rights. No user interaction is needed for the attacker to exploit this vulnerability. The impact is confined to the system where the vulnerability exists. There is a high impact on the confidentiality of the information. There is a high impact on the integrity of the data. There is a high impact on the availability of the system.

Threat Intelligence
9.0

Active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. Immediate patching or mitigation is required.

EPSS
3.08%

The exploit probability is very low. The vulnerability is unlikely to be exploited in the next 30 days.

Exploit
Not available

We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.

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Critical severity
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