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The CVE-2025-13877 vulnerability operates due to insecure default configurations in NocoBase’s Docker deployments. Historically, the official one-click Docker setup provided a publicly known default JWT (JSON Web Token) secret key. This key is used to sign and verify authentication tokens. Since the key is not unique per installation, attackers can easily obtain or predict it. With knowledge of this default key, an attacker can forge JWT tokens without any legitimate credentials. The process involves constructing a token header and payload using the standard JWT structure. The payload includes a “userId” claim, often targeting the administrator account ID, which is frequently known or guessable (e.g., user ID 1). The attacker then signs this token using the default public JWT secret. The NocoBase application, when using the vulnerable configuration, validates tokens using the same default key. Consequently, it accepts the forged token as legitimate. This allows the attacker to bypass all authentication checks entirely. The system mistakenly grants access based on the user ID in the token. As a result, the attacker can impersonate any user, including administrators. This grants full privileges to the application. The attack is remote and requires no prior authentication. Public proof-of-concept code demonstrates this token forging process. Effectively, it turns a known secret into a universal bypass key. This flaw is particularly dangerous in deployments that did not change the default JWT secret. The vulnerability is endemic to the default Docker compose or environment files. It highlights the critical risk of hard-coded secrets in deployment tooling.
Platform: NocoBase
Version: Before 1.9.23
Vulnerability: Authentication Bypass
Severity: Critical
date: 2025
Prediction: Patched 2025-05
What Undercode Say:
Analytics
Check for default JWT secret in environment echo $APP_KEY If output is empty or matches known default, system is vulnerable. grep -r "APP_KEY" docker-compose.yml .env 2>/dev/null Generate a strong new JWT secret for mitigation openssl rand -base64 32 Invalidate all existing sessions (example via container restart) docker-compose down && docker-compose up -d
How Exploit:
Example token forging pseudocode using known default secret
import jwt
default_secret = "public-default-key"
forged_payload = {"userId": 1}
forged_token = jwt.encode(forged_payload, default_secret, algorithm="HS256")
Use token in Authorization header: Bearer <forged_token>
Protection from this CVE
- Upgrade to patched versions.
- Set unique, strong APP_KEY.
- Rotate secrets immediately.
- Audit environment files.
Impact:
- Full admin access.
- Data breach risk.
- Remote exploitation.
- No authentication needed.
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Sources:
Reported By: github.com
Extra Source Hub:
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