CVE-2024-8057VulnerabilityPublished 20 Mar 2025Updated 15 Oct 2025

CVE-2024-8057: danswer-ai/danswer · Missing Authentication

Affects danswer-ai/danswerSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.3 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.0 base score

4.3Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 35% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 20 Mar 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHubdanswer-ai/danswer`pkg:github/danswer-ai/danswer`Other threats	Affected =0.4.1	Fixed in–

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AI-suggested

1. Immediately restrict or disable public user sign-up functionality until a secure authentication mechanism is implemented. 2. Implement strict role-based access control (RBAC) to ensure that only authorized admin users can create or link credentials to connectors. 3. Monitor and limit resource usage associated with user account creation and connector linking to detect and prevent abuse or resource exhaustion. 4. Apply input validation and enforce authentication checks on all critical functions, especially those related to credential management. 5. Deploy network-level protections such as rate limiting and IP blacklisting to reduce the risk of automated exploitation attempts. 6. Stay updated with vendor advisories and apply patches or updates as soon as they become available. 7. Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing focusing on authentication and authorization mechanisms within the application. 8. Educate administrators and users about the risks of unauthorized account creation and encourage reporting of suspicious activities.

Description

In version 0.4.1 of danswer-ai/danswer, a vulnerability exists where a basic user can create credentials and link them to an existing connector. This issue arises because the system allows an unauthenticated attacker to sign up with a basic account and perform actions that should be restricted to admin users. This can lead to excessive resource consumption, potentially resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) and other significant issues, impacting the system's stability and security.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to the availability and stability of systems running danswer-ai/danswer, especially in environments where the software is used for knowledge management or AI-driven data connectors. An attacker exploiting this flaw could create numerous unauthorized credentials linked to connectors, causing resource exhaustion and potential service outages. This could disrupt business operations, delay decision-making processes, and reduce trust in AI-based tools. Organizations in sectors such as finance, healthcare, research, and critical infrastructure that rely on AI knowledge platforms may face operational risks. While confidentiality and data integrity are not directly impacted, the denial of service could indirectly affect compliance with service availability requirements under regulations like GDPR and NIS Directive. The medium severity suggests the threat is significant but not critical, allowing time for mitigation but requiring prompt attention to avoid escalation or exploitation in combination with other vulnerabilities.

CWE-306Missing Authentication for Critical Function (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #21OWASP Top 10 A07:2025: Authentication Failures (opens in a new tab)
The product does not perform any authentication for functionality that requires a provable user identity or consumes a significant amount of resources.
Architecture and Design
Divide the software into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Identify which of these areas require a proven user identity, and use a centralized authentication capability.
Architecture and Design
For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks…
Architecture and Design
Where possible, avoid implementing custom, "grow-your-own" authentication routines and consider using authentication capabilities as provided by the surrounding framework, operating system, or environment.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
OWASP Authentication (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.2.3 (opens in a new tab)
V1.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
V1.2.4 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Choosing Message Identifier (opens in a new tab)
Force the System to Reset Values (opens in a new tab)
Using Unpublished Interfaces or Functionality (opens in a new tab)
Cross Site Request Forgery (opens in a new tab)
Communication Channel Manipulation (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

huntr.com/bounties/b5991b98-a721-4acd-8ef2-980e15682913 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 15 Oct 2025, 13:21 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-306

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats