CVE-2026-40172CWE-269

authentik: Privilege Escalation via User PATCH: Superuser Group Assignment Bypasses enable_group_superuser

High · published May 22, 2026

CVSS v3.1
8.1
EPSS
1%
Percentile
53.2
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

authentik is an open-source identity provider. In versions prior to 2025.12.5 and 2026.2.0-rc1 through 2026.2.2, the PATCH /api/v3/core/users/{pk}/ API allows a caller with change_user on a target user to assign arbitrary groups through UserSerializer, including groups with is_superuser=True, without requiring enable_group_superuser, leading to privilege escalation. This bypasses the stricter permission model enforced in group-management paths and enables delegated user-management permissions to escalate target users to administrator-equivalent privilege. Users with permissions to update groups or permissions to update users are able to add themselves or other users they have permissions on to users which have superuser permissions. This issue has been fixed in versions 22025.12.5 and 2026.2.3.

The record
Technical detail
CVSS v3.1
8.1 · HIGH
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.00716 · 53.2th percentile
Weakness
CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management
Published
2026-05-22T19:00Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 22 MAY 19:00Z
    authentik: Privilege Escalation via User PATCH: Superuser Group Assignment Bypasses enable_group_superuser
    cvelistv5