Summary
CVE-2026-55181 is a critical improper access control vulnerability (CWE-284) in Tugtainer, a self-hosted application for automating Docker container updates. When an administrator disables OpenID Connect (OIDC) authentication, the application continues to accept and process OIDC login requests, allowing the authentication flow to be initiated despite being administratively turned off. The flaw carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.4 (Critical) and affects all Tugtainer versions up to and including 1.30.2.
Technical details
- Root cause: in
backend/modules/auth/providers/auth_oidc_provider.py, thelogin()method calls the asyncis_enabled()method without theawaitkeyword. Because this returns a coroutine object (which is always truthy) rather than the actual boolean enabled state, the check that is supposed to block OIDC when disabled never evaluates correctly. - The
/auth/oidc/enabledstatus endpoint correctly reports OIDC as disabled, creating a false sense that the login path is also blocked. - A direct, unauthenticated request to
/auth/oidc/loginstill starts the OIDC login flow: it returns an HTTP 302 redirect, sets anoidc_statesession cookie, and redirects the requester to the configured OIDC identity provider’s authorization endpoint. - The associated callback handler lacks sufficient verification before processing authorization responses and issuing session credentials.
- Attack vector: network, no privileges or user interaction required (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N).
- Impact: high confidentiality and integrity impact, with low availability impact — an attacker can abuse the still-active OIDC flow to attempt authentication bypass or session/credential abuse even though OIDC was explicitly disabled by the administrator.
Affected software
- Quenary Tugtainer versions ≤ 1.30.3 (all releases up to and including 1.30.2; patched in 1.30.3)
Severity
- CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 9.4 (Critical)
- Vector:
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
Mitigation and recommended actions
- Immediate: upgrade Tugtainer to v1.30.3 or later, which correctly awaits the OIDC enablement check before allowing the login flow to proceed.
- If immediate patching is not possible: restrict network access to the Tugtainer management interface (e.g., place it behind a VPN, reverse proxy with authentication, or IP allow-list) so that
/auth/oidc/loginand related endpoints cannot be reached by untrusted clients, and monitor for unexpected requests to OIDC authentication paths. - After patching, review any OIDC provider logs for unexpected authorization requests originating from the Tugtainer instance during the exposure window.

