CVE-2026-65633
Purpose-limited JWT accepted as full bearer authentication in AshAuthentication
Description
Improper Authentication vulnerability in team-alembic AshAuthentication allows purpose-limited JWTs to be replayed as full bearer API credentials when a resource uses stateless bearer-token verification. The bearer-token authentication helper AshAuthentication.Plug.Helpers.retrieve_from_bearer/3 verifies an Authorization: Bearer JWT's signature and rejects tokens containing an act claim, but performs no check that the token's purpose claim equals user at the bearer boundary. When the resource is configured with require_token_presence_for_authentication?: false (the DSL default), the follow-on validate_token/3 helper returns {:ok, nil} without consulting the token resource, so no downstream check on purpose takes place either. As a result, any valid, non-expired JWT the library itself issued for a narrow, single-purpose flow (most notably the purpose: sign_in token that WebAuthn always emits during sign-in, and that the Password strategy emits when sign-in tokens are enabled) is accepted directly as a general-purpose bearer credential and resolves to a full current_user assignment. This bypasses the library's intended token-exchange contract, in which the sign_in token is meant to be presented exactly once to a preparation that validates the purpose claim and immediately revokes the token. The first use of a still-valid sign-in token presented directly in the Authorization header succeeds because the stateless bearer path never scopes it to purpose == "user". An attacker who obtains a not-yet-exchanged sign-in token for a target subject (for example via log or referrer leakage, an intercepted magic-link delivery channel, or a partially compromised intermediary) can present it as a bearer token and be authenticated as that subject, fully bypassing the intended one-time-use and revocation semantics. Exploitation additionally requires that the host application wire up retrieve_from_bearer/3 on a reachable route and uses either WebAuthn (sign-in tokens are always issued) or the Password strategy with sign_in_tokens_enabled?: true. Resources configured with require_token_presence_for_authentication?: true (including applications scaffolded by the Igniter installer since v4.5.0) and the session-based path (authenticate_resource_from_session/4) enforce purpose == "user" against the stored token record and are not affected. This issue affects ash_authentication: from 3.10.5 before 4.14.2 and from 5.0.0-rc.0 before 5.0.0-rc.13.
INFO
Published Date :
Aug. 25, 2026, 8:18 a.m.
Last Modified :
Aug. 25, 2026, 8:18 a.m.
Remotely Exploit :
Yes !
Source :
6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 4.0 | HIGH | 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db | ||||
| CVSS 4.0 | HIGH | 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db |
Solution
- Update ash_authentication to version 4.14.2 or later.
- Update ash_authentication to version 5.0.0-rc.13 or later.
- Ensure require_token_presence_for_authentication is set to true.
- Validate token purpose claim downstream.
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-2026-65633.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-65633 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-2026-65633
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-2026-65633 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-65633 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 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
Aug. 25, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Affected [{'cpes': ['cpe:2.3:a:team-alembic:ash_authentication:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*'], 'repo': 'https://github.com/team-alembic/ash_authentication', 'vendor': 'team-alembic', 'modules': ["'Elixir.AshAuthentication.Plug.Helpers'"], 'product': 'ash_authentication', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '3.10.5', 'lessThan': '4.14.2', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '5.0.0-rc.0', 'lessThan': '5.0.0-rc.13', 'versionType': 'semver'}], 'packageURL': 'pkg:hex/ash_authentication', 'packageName': 'ash_authentication', 'programFiles': ['lib/ash_authentication/plug/helpers.ex'], 'collectionURL': 'https://repo.hex.pm', 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected', 'programRoutines': [{'name': "'Elixir.AshAuthentication.Plug.Helpers':retrieve_from_bearer/3"}]}, {'cpes': ['cpe:2.3:a:team-alembic:ash_authentication:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*'], 'repo': 'https://github.com/team-alembic/ash_authentication', 'vendor': 'team-alembic', 'modules': ["'Elixir.AshAuthentication.Plug.Helpers'"], 'product': 'ash_authentication', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'changes': [{'at': '8cf8b2d4426172be0900a3505e9491800b951750', 'status': 'unaffected'}, {'at': '124eddd1bbeb40289c3fe8831ac10677a19fcf09', 'status': 'unaffected'}], 'version': 'eca8cadea0f1595ed2c10a0c177b1da9aa9e5269', 'lessThan': '*', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'packageURL': 'pkg:github/team-alembic/ash_authentication', 'packageName': 'team-alembic/ash_authentication', 'programFiles': ['lib/ash_authentication/plug/helpers.ex'], 'collectionURL': 'https://github.com', 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected', 'programRoutines': [{'name': "'Elixir.AshAuthentication.Plug.Helpers':retrieve_from_bearer/3"}]}] Added Description Improper Authentication vulnerability in team-alembic AshAuthentication allows purpose-limited JWTs to be replayed as full bearer API credentials when a resource uses stateless bearer-token verification. The bearer-token authentication helper AshAuthentication.Plug.Helpers.retrieve_from_bearer/3 verifies an Authorization: Bearer JWT's signature and rejects tokens containing an act claim, but performs no check that the token's purpose claim equals user at the bearer boundary. When the resource is configured with require_token_presence_for_authentication?: false (the DSL default), the follow-on validate_token/3 helper returns {:ok, nil} without consulting the token resource, so no downstream check on purpose takes place either. As a result, any valid, non-expired JWT the library itself issued for a narrow, single-purpose flow (most notably the purpose: sign_in token that WebAuthn always emits during sign-in, and that the Password strategy emits when sign-in tokens are enabled) is accepted directly as a general-purpose bearer credential and resolves to a full current_user assignment. This bypasses the library's intended token-exchange contract, in which the sign_in token is meant to be presented exactly once to a preparation that validates the purpose claim and immediately revokes the token. The first use of a still-valid sign-in token presented directly in the Authorization header succeeds because the stateless bearer path never scopes it to purpose == "user". An attacker who obtains a not-yet-exchanged sign-in token for a target subject (for example via log or referrer leakage, an intercepted magic-link delivery channel, or a partially compromised intermediary) can present it as a bearer token and be authenticated as that subject, fully bypassing the intended one-time-use and revocation semantics. Exploitation additionally requires that the host application wire up retrieve_from_bearer/3 on a reachable route and uses either WebAuthn (sign-in tokens are always issued) or the Password strategy with sign_in_tokens_enabled?: true. Resources configured with require_token_presence_for_authentication?: true (including applications scaffolded by the Igniter installer since v4.5.0) and the session-based path (authenticate_resource_from_session/4) enforce purpose == "user" against the stored token record and are not affected. This issue affects ash_authentication: from 3.10.5 before 4.14.2 and from 5.0.0-rc.0 before 5.0.0-rc.13. Added CVSS V4.0 AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X Added CWE CWE-287 Added Reference https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-65633.html Added Reference https://github.com/team-alembic/ash_authentication/commit/124eddd1bbeb40289c3fe8831ac10677a19fcf09 Added Reference https://github.com/team-alembic/ash_authentication/commit/8cf8b2d4426172be0900a3505e9491800b951750 Added Reference https://github.com/team-alembic/ash_authentication/security/advisories/GHSA-6vcj-3h59-rrc3 Added Reference https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-65633