CVE-2026-40165
authentik: SAML NameID XML Comment Injection Enables Authentication Bypass via Identifier Truncation
Description
authentik is an open-source identity provider. Versions 2025.12.4 and prior, and versions 2026.2.0-rc1 through 2026.2.2 were vulnerable to Authentication Bypass through SAML NameID XML Comment Injection. Due to how authentik extracted the NameID value from a SAML assertion, it was possible for an attacker to trick authentik into only seeing a part of the NameID value, potentially allowing an attacker to gain access to other accounts. This issue could be exploited on an authentik instance with a SAML Source, where the attacker had an account on the SAML Source and the ability to modify their NameID value (commonly username or E-mail), and XML Signing was enabled. The attacker could modify the SAML assertion given to authentik by injecting a comment within the NameID value, which effectively truncated the NameID value to the snippet before the comment, and gave the attacker access to any user account. This issue has been fixed in versions 2025.12.5 and 2026.2.3.
INFO
Published Date :
May 21, 2026, 12:16 a.m.
Last Modified :
May 21, 2026, 12:16 a.m.
Remotely Exploit :
Yes !
Source :
[email protected]
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2026-40165
vulnerability.
Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the
products
that
are
affected, the information is not represented in the table below.
No affected product recoded yet
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | [email protected] |
Solution
- Update authentik to version 2025.12.5 or later.
- Update authentik to version 2026.2.3 or later.
- Ensure XML Signing is disabled if not required.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-40165.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-40165 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-40165
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-40165 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-40165 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
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New CVE Received by [email protected]
May. 21, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description authentik is an open-source identity provider. Versions 2025.12.4 and prior, and versions 2026.2.0-rc1 through 2026.2.2 were vulnerable to Authentication Bypass through SAML NameID XML Comment Injection. Due to how authentik extracted the NameID value from a SAML assertion, it was possible for an attacker to trick authentik into only seeing a part of the NameID value, potentially allowing an attacker to gain access to other accounts. This issue could be exploited on an authentik instance with a SAML Source, where the attacker had an account on the SAML Source and the ability to modify their NameID value (commonly username or E-mail), and XML Signing was enabled. The attacker could modify the SAML assertion given to authentik by injecting a comment within the NameID value, which effectively truncated the NameID value to the snippet before the comment, and gave the attacker access to any user account. This issue has been fixed in versions 2025.12.5 and 2026.2.3. Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N Added CWE CWE-287 Added CWE CWE-91 Added CWE CWE-436 Added Reference https://github.com/goauthentik/authentik/commit/47dec5c6b7fb4a62bfad2ae8bddf002bde7ba774 Added Reference https://github.com/goauthentik/authentik/releases/tag/version%2F2025.12.5 Added Reference https://github.com/goauthentik/authentik/security/advisories/GHSA-9wj8-xv4r-qwrp