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ZITADEL Allows Account Takeover via Malicious X-Forwarded-Proto Header Injection

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published May 28, 2025 in zitadel/zitadel • Updated May 29, 2025

Package

gomod github.com/zitadel/zitadel (Go)

Affected versions

< 0.0.0-20250528081227-c097887bc5f6

Patched versions

0.0.0-20250528081227-c097887bc5f6
gomod github.com/zitadel/zitadel/v2 (Go)
>= 2.38.3, < 2.70.12
>= 3.0.0-rc1, < 3.2.2
>= 2.71.0, <= 2.71.10
< 2.38.2-0.20240919104753-94d1eb767837
2.70.12
3.2.2
2.71.11

Description

Impact

A potential vulnerability exists in ZITADEL's password reset mechanism. ZITADEL utilizes the Forwarded or X-Forwarded-Host header from incoming requests to construct the URL for the password reset confirmation link. This link, containing a secret code, is then emailed to the user.

If an attacker can manipulate these headers (e.g., via host header injection), they could cause ZITADEL to generate a password reset link pointing to a malicious domain controlled by the attacker. If the user clicks this manipulated link in the email, the secret reset code embedded in the URL can be captured by the attacker. This captured code could then be used to reset the user's password and gain unauthorized access to their account.

It's important to note that this specific attack vector is mitigated for accounts that have Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) or Passwordless authentication enabled.

Patches

Patched version ensure proper validation of the headers and do not allow downgrading from https to http.

3.x versions are fixed on >=3.2.2
2.71.x versions are fixed on >=2.71.11
2.x versions are fixed on >=2.70.12

Workarounds

The recommended solution is to update ZITADEL to a patched version.

A ZITADEL fronting proxy can be configured to delete all Forwarded and X-Forwarded-Host header values before sending requests to ZITADEL self-hosted environments.

Questions

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please email us at [email protected]

Credits

Thanks to Amit Laish – GE Vernova for finding and reporting the vulnerability.

References

@livio-a livio-a published to zitadel/zitadel May 28, 2025
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database May 28, 2025
Reviewed May 28, 2025
Last updated May 29, 2025

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

EPSS score

Weaknesses

CVE ID

CVE-2025-48936

GHSA ID

GHSA-93m4-mfpg-c3xf

Source code

Credits

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