Privilege escalation in Goauthentik Authentik

CVE-2025-53942

authentik is an open-source Identity Provider that emphasizes flexibility and versatility, with support for a wide set of protocols. In versions 2025.4.4 and earlier, as well as versions 2025.6.0-rc1 through 2025.6.3, deactivated users who registered through OAuth/SAML or linked their accounts to OAuth/SAML providers can still retain partial access to the system despite their accounts being deactivated. They end up in a half-authenticated state where they cannot access the API but crucially they can authorize applications if they know the URL of the application. To workaround this issue, developers can add an expression policy to the user login stage on the respective authentication flow with the expression of return request.context["pending_user"].is_active. This modification ensures that the return statement only activates the user login stage when the user is active. This issue is fixed in versions authentik 2025.4.4 and 2025.6.4.

Vulnerability class: Privilege Escalation

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.4 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.005 (42.7th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 43rd percentile — 42.7% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2025-53942: held from 0.005 to 0.005.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.005 · newest: 0.005 · change: +0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-53942?
CVE-2025-53942 is a high-severity vulnerability in Goauthentik Authentik, classified under Improper Privilege Management. CVSS score: 7.4/10. Published 2025-07-23.
How severe is CVE-2025-53942?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.4 out of 10.