GHSA-cc4f-hjpj-g9p8: Flowise: hardcoded JWT defaults enable full auth bypass

**Detection Method:** Kolega.dev Deep Code Scan | Attribute | Value | |---|---| | Severity | Critical | | Location | packages/server/src/enterprise/middleware/passport/index.ts:29-34 | | Practical Exploitability | High | | Developer Approver | faizan@kolega.ai | ### Description JWT secrets have weak hardcoded defaults ('auth_token', 'refresh_token', 'AUDIENCE', 'ISSUER'). Attackers can forge valid JWTs and impersonate any user. ### Affected Code ``` const jwtAudience = process.env.JWT_AUDIENCE || 'AUDIENCE' const jwtIssuer = process.env.JWT_ISSUER || 'ISSUER' const jwtAuthTokenSecret = process.env.JWT_AUTH_TOKEN_SECRET || 'auth_token' const jwtRefreshSecret = process.env.JWT_REFRESH_TOKEN_SECRET || process.env.JWT_AUTH_TOKEN_SECRET || 'refresh_token' ``` ### Evidence All JWT defaults are weak strings. Refresh token falls back to auth token which is a design flaw. If any environment variable is unset, weak default is used. ### Impact Complete authentication bypass. Attackers can forge valid JWTs for any user account. No authentication required to access protected endpoints. Can escalate to admin access. ### Recommendation Remove all default secrets - require all JWT environment variables to be explicitly set. Add startup validation throwing error if any JWT secret is missing. Use cryptographically random secrets (256+ bits) for each secret independently. Implement JWT secret rotation mechanism. ### Notes The JWT secrets have genuinely weak hardcoded defaults ('auth_token', 'refresh_token', 'AUDIENCE', 'ISSUER') at lines 29-34. If an administrator deploys without setting the environment variables JWT_AUTH_TOKEN_SECRET, JWT_REFRESH_TOKEN_SECRET, JWT_AUDIENCE, and JWT_ISSUER, the application will use these trivially guessable values. An attacker knowing these defaults (which are publicly visible in the source code) can forge valid JWTs to impersonate any user, including administrators. The fallback chain at line 34 where jwtRefreshSecret falls back to jwtAuthTokenSecret is an additional design weakness - if only JWT_AUTH_TOKEN_SECRET is set, both tokens share the same secret. While .env.example files provide placeholder values, these are also weak and publicly visible. The application should fail to start if these secrets are not explicitly configured with strong values, rather than silently falling back to insecure defaults.

An attacker scans for internet-exposed Flowise instances and identifies one running version 3.0.13 via the UI footer or API response headers. Consulting the public GitHub repository, they retrieve the default JWT secrets: 'auth_token' for the auth token and 'refresh_token' for the refresh token, along with the literal strings 'AUDIENCE' and 'ISSUER'. They craft a valid JWT signed with 'auth_token', embedding an admin user claim, and submit it to the Flowise API. The server validates the forged token against the default secret and grants full admin access. The attacker then exports all workflow configurations — extracting hardcoded OpenAI and Anthropic API keys — enumerates connected vector databases, and uses the embedded credentials to exfiltrate proprietary RAG datasets. If the Flowise instance runs with network tool access, the attacker can invoke agent tools to pivot into internal systems.