CVE-2024-28197: Github.com/zitadel/zitadel Account Takeover Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-mq4x-r2w3-j7mr
CVSS 7.5
CWE-384 CWE-269
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2024-28197 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) account takeover vulnerability (CWE-384: Session Fixation) affecting Github.com/zitadel/zitadel libraries in the Go ecosystem. The issue involves account takeover via session fixation in zitadel [bypassing mfa]. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.44.3, 2.45.1.

CVE-2024-28197 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2024-28197
GHSA Identifier GHSA-mq4x-r2w3-j7mr
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-384: Session Fixation
Affected Product Github.com/zitadel/zitadel
Package Ecosystem Go
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N).

Attack Vector Adjacent (AV:A)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction Required (UI:R)
Scope Changed (S:C)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2024-28197

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Github.com/zitadel/zitadel dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

github.com/zitadel/zitadel fixed: 2.44.3
Upgrade github.com/zitadel/zitadel to 2.44.3
github.com/zitadel/zitadel fixed: 2.45.1
Upgrade github.com/zitadel/zitadel to 2.45.1
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:

inspect dependencies for github.com/zitadel/zitadel

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2024-28197, inspect your project dependencies for Github.com/zitadel/zitadel:

inspect dependencies for github.com/zitadel/zitadel

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Github.com/zitadel/zitadel in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.44.3), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-384: Session Fixation, where authenticating a user, or otherwise establishing a new user session, without invalidating any existing session identifier gives an attacker the opportunity to steal authenticated sessions. In Github.com/zitadel/zitadel, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

### Impact ZITADEL uses a cookie to identify the user agent (browser) and its user sessions. Although the cookie was handled according to best practices, it was accessible on subdomains of the ZITADEL instance. An attacker could take advantage of this and provide a malicious link hosted on the subdomain to the user to gain access to the victim’s account in certain scenarios. A possible victim would need to login through the malicious link for this exploit to work. If the possible victim already had the cookie present, the attack would not succeed. The attack would further only be possible if there was an initial vulnerability on the subdomain. This could either be the attacker being able to control DNS or a XSS vulnerability in an application hosted on a subdomain. ### Patches 2.x versions are fixed on >= [2.46.0](https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v2.46.0) 2.45.x versions are fixed on >= [2.45.1](https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v2.45.1) 2.44.x versions are fixed on >= [2.44.3](https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v2.44.3) ZITADEL recommends upgrading to the latest versions available in due course. Note that applying the patch will invalidate the current cookie and thus users will need to start a new session and existing sessions (user selection) will be empty. ### Workarounds For self-hosted environments unable to upgrade to a patched version, prevent setting the following cookie name on subdomains of your ZITADEL instance (e.g. within your WAF): `__Secure-zitadel-useragent` ### References None ### Questions If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please email us at [security@zitadel.com](mailto:security@zitadel.com) ### Credits Thanks to Amit Laish – GE Vernova for finding and reporting the vulnerability.

CVE-2024-28197 Affected Github.com/zitadel/zitadel Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.44.32.45.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
github.com/zitadel/zitadel
Go
< 2.44.3
2.44.3
github.com/zitadel/zitadel
Go
≥ 2.45.0
< 2.45.1
2.45.1

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2024-28197?
CVE-2024-28197 is a security vulnerability in Github.com/zitadel/zitadel involving Account Takeover via Session Fixation in Zitadel [Bypassing MFA] under CWE-384: Session Fixation.
Which Github.com/zitadel/zitadel versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.44.3, 2.45.1 across affected packages: github.com/zitadel/zitadel.
What version fixes CVE-2024-28197?
Upgrading to 2.44.3, 2.45.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is github.com/zitadel/zitadel affected?
Yes, github.com/zitadel/zitadel is affected in releases prior to 2.44.3, 2.45.1. Upgrade your dependency to 2.44.3, 2.45.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2024-28197?
CVE-2024-28197 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2024-28197?
CVE-2024-28197 is classified under CWE-384: Session Fixation (Authenticating a user, or otherwise establishing a new user session, without invalidating any existing session identifier gives an attacker the opportunity to steal authenticated sessions.).
How can I check Go dependencies for CVE-2024-28197?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for github.com/zitadel/zitadel'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-mq4x-r2w3-j7mr",
  "modified" : "2025-01-07T18:36:00Z",
  "published" : "2024-03-11T21:25:52Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2024-28197" ],
  "summary" : "Account Takeover via Session Fixation in Zitadel [Bypassing MFA]",
  "details" : "### Impact\nZITADEL uses a cookie to identify the user agent (browser) and its user sessions. \n\nAlthough the cookie was handled according to best practices, it was accessible on subdomains of the ZITADEL instance. An attacker could take advantage of this and provide a malicious link hosted on the subdomain to the user to gain access to the victim’s account in certain scenarios. \nA possible victim would need to login through the malicious link for this exploit to work. \n\nIf the possible victim already had the cookie present, the attack would not succeed. The attack would further only be possible if there was an initial vulnerability on the subdomain. This could either be the attacker being able to control DNS or a XSS vulnerability in an application hosted on a subdomain.\n\n### Patches\n2.x versions are fixed on >= [2.46.0](https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v2.46.0)\n2.45.x versions are fixed on >= [2.45.1](https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v2.45.1)\n2.44.x versions are fixed on >= [2.44.3](https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v2.44.3)\n\nZITADEL recommends upgrading to the latest versions available in due course.\n\nNote that applying the patch will invalidate the current cookie and thus users will need to start a new session and existing sessions (user selection) will be empty.\n\n### Workarounds\nFor self-hosted environments unable to upgrade to a patched version, prevent setting the following cookie name on subdomains of your ZITADEL instance (e.g. within your WAF): `__Secure-zitadel-useragent`\n\n### References\nNone\n\n### Questions\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please email us at [security@zitadel.com](mailto:security@zitadel.com)\n\n### Credits\nThanks to Amit Laish – GE Vernova for finding and reporting the vulnerability.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/zitadel/zitadel"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.44.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/zitadel/zitadel"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.45.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.45.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/security/advisories/GHSA-mq4x-r2w3-j7mr"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-28197"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/commit/d4c553b75a214e41299af010ef4b26174a0f802c"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/commit/e82cb51eb819c6cdba8123c9c34c5739b46b29eb"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-269", "CWE-384" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2024-03-11T21:25:52Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2024-03-11T20:15:07Z"
  }
}