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GHSA-x234-x5vq-cc2v
No affected components available
Summary
A user who was disabled by an administrator can use previously issued API tokens for up to the token lifetime. In practice, disabling a compromised account does not actually terminate that user’s access, so an attacker who already stole a JWT can continue reading and modifying protected resources after the account is marked disabled.
Since tokens can be used to create new accounts, it is possible the disabled user to maintain the privilege.
Details
The application exposes an account-level disable control through the users management API. Login process correctly enforces that control: https://github.com/0xJacky/nginx-ui/blob/6ec542fd97abf2c5950f374f78a32938ad0030e6/internal/user/login.go#L29-L31
However, token-based authentication does not enforce the same check (This code validates token structure and expiry, but returns that user object without checking user.Status.):
https://github.com/0xJacky/nginx-ui/blob/6ec542fd97abf2c5950f374f78a32938ad0030e6/internal/user/user.go#L44-L139
There’s also no token revocation feature, unlike when a password is changed: https://github.com/0xJacky/nginx-ui/blob/6ec542fd97abf2c5950f374f78a32938ad0030e6/api/user/user.go#L38-L51
As a result, a disabled user can continue to have full API access. In particular, since that includes account creation, they can create a new account and keep operating even after the JWT expires.
PoC
The issue was validated with version 2.3.3 using the uozi/nginx-ui:sha-c92ec0a docker image.
View the PoC video:
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7a5175cb-2f79-4c1b-adad-e7d0bf2ea2bd
Impact
Administrators who rely on "disable user" as an authentication or authorization control can be bypassed.
The disabled user can keep reading sensitive configuration and executing authenticated state-changing actions allowed to that account.
The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is easy for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker needs basic access or low-level privileges. 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.
Exploitation activity has been observed. Apply available patches or mitigations urgently.
The exploit probability is very low. The vulnerability is unlikely to be exploited in the next 30 days.
We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.
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