VulnerabilityPublished 24 Apr 2026Updated 4 May 2026

CVE-2026-41492: Dgraph · Unauthenticated Admin Token Disclosure Leading to Authentication Bypass via /debug/vars

Affects github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph/v25Source GCVE Database

Authoritative record:CVE-2026-41492· Critical 9.8

Not known to be exploited · public detection template (Nuclei) · CVSS 9.8 Critical : upgrade to 25.3.3 as a priority.

Data as of 27 Oct 2026, 00:07 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

9.8Critical

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

Patch: Available – fixed in 25.3.3

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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

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: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
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: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 24 Apr 2026
Detectable: evidence found.
nuclei template: Dgraph <= 25.3.2 - Admin Token Disclosure
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 26 Oct 2026.

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 or the CVSS exploit maturity 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

Upgrade github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph/v25 to 25.3.3.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Gogithub.com/dgraph-io/dgraph/v25	Affected <25.3.3	Fixed in 25.3.3
Gogithub.com/dgraph-io/dgraph/v24	Affected <=24.1.8	Fixed in–
Gogithub.com/dgraph-io/dgraph	Affected <=1.2.8	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

Description

### Summary Dgraph `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. This 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. ### Details Alpha still exposes Go's default HTTP mux: - `x/metrics.go` - imports `expvar` - initializes `Conf = expvar.NewMap("dgraph_config")` - Go's `expvar` package automatically registers `/debug/vars` - `expvar` publishes: - `cmdline = os.Args` - `memstats = runtime.Memstats` Alpha's HTTP handler explicitly blocks only the old CVE path: - `dgraph/cmd/alpha/run.go` - checks `if r.URL.Path == "/debug/pprof/cmdline"` and returns `404` - otherwise falls through to `http.DefaultServeMux.ServeHTTP(w, r)` Admin endpoints still trust the leaked token: - `dgraph/cmd/alpha/admin.go` - reads `X-Dgraph-AuthToken` - compares it to `worker.Config.AuthToken` ### PoC 1. Send an unauthenticated request to Alpha: ```http GET /debug/vars HTTP/1.1 Host: target:8080 ``` 2. Parse the JSON response and read the `cmdline` field. 3. Extract the admin token from the startup arguments, for example: ```text --security token=debug-vars-secret; ``` 4. Replay the token to an admin-only endpoint: ```http GET /admin/config/cache_mb HTTP/1.1 Host: target:8080 X-Dgraph-AuthToken: debug-vars-secret ``` 5. The request is accepted as an authorized admin request. This was reproduced against `dgraph/dgraph:v25.3.2` in Docker. Observed behavior: - unauthenticated `/debug/vars` leaked the configured token - replaying the leaked token in `X-Dgraph-AuthToken` successfully accessed `/admin/config/cache_mb` - response body was: ```text 4096 ``` It was verified that the old CVE path appears specifically patched in the same version: - `/debug/pprof/cmdline` returned `404 Not Found` - `/debug/pprof/` remained reachable ### Impact Unauthenticated attackers can obtain the Alpha admin token and gain unauthorized administrative access. This enables privileged admin operations such as: - reading privileged admin configuration - mutating admin configuration - performing operational control actions gated by `X-Dgraph-AuthToken` In deployments where the Alpha HTTP port is reachable by untrusted parties, this is a practical authentication bypass to admin functionality.

CWE-200Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #20OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
Logging (opens in a new tab)
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.4 (opens in a new tab)
V14.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
V7.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Subverting Environment Variable Values (opens in a new tab)
ICMP Echo Request Ping (opens in a new tab)
TCP SYN Scan (opens in a new tab)
Enumerate Mail Exchange (MX) Records (opens in a new tab)
DNS Zone Transfers (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

Public exploits and detectiona Nuclei detection template

WeaknessesCWE-200

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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