CVE-2026-41492: Dgraph Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-vvf7-6rmr-m29q",
  "modified" : "2026-05-04T20:08:42Z",
  "published" : "2026-04-24T16:15:28Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-41492" ],
  "summary" : "Dgraph: Unauthenticated Admin Token Disclosure Leading to Authentication Bypass via /debug/vars",
  "details" : "### Summary\nDgraph `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.\n\nThis 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.\n\n### Details\nAlpha still exposes Go's default HTTP mux:\n\n- `x/metrics.go`\n  - imports `expvar`\n  - initializes `Conf = expvar.NewMap(\"dgraph_config\")`\n- Go's `expvar` package automatically registers `/debug/vars`\n- `expvar` publishes:\n  - `cmdline = os.Args`\n  - `memstats = runtime.Memstats`\n\nAlpha's HTTP handler explicitly blocks only the old CVE path:\n\n- `dgraph/cmd/alpha/run.go`\n  - checks `if r.URL.Path == \"/debug/pprof/cmdline\"` and returns `404`\n  - otherwise falls through to `http.DefaultServeMux.ServeHTTP(w, r)`\n\nAdmin endpoints still trust the leaked token:\n\n- `dgraph/cmd/alpha/admin.go`\n  - reads `X-Dgraph-AuthToken`\n  - compares it to `worker.Config.AuthToken`\n### PoC\n1. Send an unauthenticated request to Alpha:\n\n```http\nGET /debug/vars HTTP/1.1\nHost: target:8080\n```\n\n2. Parse the JSON response and read the `cmdline` field.\n\n3. Extract the admin token from the startup arguments, for example:\n\n```text\n--security token=debug-vars-secret;\n```\n\n4. Replay the token to an admin-only endpoint:\n\n```http\nGET /admin/config/cache_mb HTTP/1.1\nHost: target:8080\nX-Dgraph-AuthToken: debug-vars-secret\n```\n\n5. The request is accepted as an authorized admin request.\n\nThis was reproduced against `dgraph/dgraph:v25.3.2` in Docker.\n\nObserved behavior:\n\n- unauthenticated `/debug/vars` leaked the configured token\n- replaying the leaked token in `X-Dgraph-AuthToken` successfully accessed `/admin/config/cache_mb`\n- response body was:\n\n```text\n4096\n```\n\nIt was verified that the old CVE path appears specifically patched in the same version:\n\n- `/debug/pprof/cmdline` returned `404 Not Found`\n- `/debug/pprof/` remained reachable\n\n### Impact\nUnauthenticated attackers can obtain the Alpha admin token and gain unauthorized administrative access.\n\nThis enables privileged admin operations such as:\n\n- reading privileged admin configuration\n- mutating admin configuration\n- performing operational control actions gated by `X-Dgraph-AuthToken`\n\nIn deployments where the Alpha HTTP port is reachable by untrusted parties, this is a practical authentication bypass to admin functionality.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph/v25"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "25.3.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph/v24"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "24.1.8"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "1.2.8"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph/security/advisories/GHSA-vvf7-6rmr-m29q"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-41492"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph/releases/tag/v25.3.3"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-200" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-04-24T16:15:28Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-04-24T19:17:14Z"
  }
}