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CVE-2026-56271 – Authentication Bypass via Hardcoded JWT Secrets – Flowise ≤ 3.0.13

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Summary

CVE-2026-56271 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability affecting Flowise, an open-source AI workflow builder, in all versions up to and including 3.0.13. The enterprise passport authentication middleware falls back to publicly known hardcoded JWT secrets and credential parameters when the corresponding environment variables are not configured, allowing any unauthenticated remote attacker to forge valid JWT tokens and fully impersonate any user, including administrators. The vulnerability is rated CVSS 9.8 (CRITICAL) under CVSS v3.1 and 9.3 under CVSS v4.0.

Technical details

  • Root cause: The enterprise passport authentication middleware (packages/server/src/enterprise/middleware/passport/index.ts, lines 29–34) silently falls back to hardcoded literal values — 'auth_token' and 'refresh_token' as JWT signing secrets, and 'AUDIENCE' / 'ISSUER' as token audience and issuer claims — when the environment variables JWT_AUTH_TOKEN_SECRET, JWT_REFRESH_TOKEN_SECRET, JWT_AUDIENCE, and JWT_ISSUER are not explicitly set. (CWE-321: Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key)
  • Trigger condition: Default or misconfigured deployments where one or more of the above environment variables are absent — a condition common in out-of-the-box self-hosted installations.
  • Attack vector: Fully remote and unauthenticated; an attacker with network access to the Flowise instance can craft a JWT signed with the publicly disclosed hardcoded secrets and present it to the API to gain access as any user.
  • Impact: Complete authentication bypass leading to full administrative account takeover, with high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected deployment.

Affected software

  • Flowise (npm package): all versions ≤ 3.0.13
  • Fixed in Flowise 3.1.0

Severity

  • CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 9.8 (CRITICAL)
  • Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Mitigation and recommended actions

  • Immediate action: Upgrade Flowise to version 3.1.0 or later, which removes the hardcoded default secrets and requires explicit configuration of all JWT-related environment variables.
  • If immediate patching is not possible:
    • Explicitly set strong, cryptographically random values for JWT_AUTH_TOKEN_SECRET, JWT_REFRESH_TOKEN_SECRET, JWT_AUDIENCE, and JWT_ISSUER in your deployment environment to override the vulnerable defaults.
    • Restrict network access to Flowise instances so they are not reachable from untrusted networks.
    • Audit logs for unexpected API access or JWT-authenticated sessions that may indicate exploitation has already occurred.

IONIX Status

The IONIX research team is tracking ongoing exploitation attempts and recommends immediate patching. Potentially affected assets are outlined in this post.

References

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