Dgraph: Unauthenticated Admin Token Disclosure Leading to Authentication Bypass via /debug/vars

### Summary Dgraph `v25.3.2` still exposes the process command line through the unauthenticated `/debug/vars` endpoint on Alpha. Because the admin token is commonly supplied via the `--security "token=..."` startup flag, an unauthenticated attacker can retrieve that token and replay it in the `X-Dgraph-AuthToken` header to access admin-only endpoints. This is a variant of the previously fixed `/debug/pprof/cmdline` issue, but the current fix is incomplete because it blocks only `/debug/pprof/cmdline` and still serves `http.DefaultServeMux`, which includes `expvar`'s `/debug/vars` handler. ### Details Alpha still exposes Go's default HTTP mux: - `x/metrics.go` - imports `expvar` - initializes `Conf = expvar.NewMap("dgraph_config")` - Go's `expvar` package automatically registers `/debug/vars` - `expvar` publishes: - `cmdline = os.Args` - `memstats = runtime.Memstats` Alpha's HTTP handler explicitly blocks only the old CVE path: - `dgraph/cmd/alpha/run.go` - checks `if r.URL.Path == "/debug/pprof/cmdline"` and returns `404` - otherwise falls through to `http.DefaultServeMux.ServeHTTP(w, r)` Admin endpoints still trust the leaked token: - `dgraph/cmd/alpha/admin.go` - reads `X-Dgraph-AuthToken` - compares it to `worker.Config.AuthToken` ### PoC 1. Send an unauthenticated request to Alpha: ```http GET /debug/vars HTTP/1.1 Host: target:8080 ``` 2. Parse the JSON response and read the `cmdline` field. 3. Extract the admin token from the startup arguments, for example: ```text --security token=debug-vars-secret; ``` 4. Replay the token to an admin-only endpoint: ```http GET /admin/config/cache_mb HTTP/1.1 Host: target:8080 X-Dgraph-AuthToken: debug-vars-secret ``` 5. The request is accepted as an authorized admin request. This was reproduced against `dgraph/dgraph:v25.3.2` in Docker. Observed behavior: - unauthenticated `/debug/vars` leaked the configured token - replaying the leaked token in `X-Dgraph-AuthToken` successfully accessed `/admin/config/cache_mb` - response body was: ```text 4096 ``` It was verified that the old CVE path appears specifically patched in the same version: - `/debug/pprof/cmdline` returned `404 Not Found` - `/debug/pprof/` remained reachable ### Impact Unauthenticated attackers can obtain the Alpha admin token and gain unauthorized administrative access. This enables privileged admin operations such as: - reading privileged admin configuration - mutating admin configuration - performing operational control actions gated by `X-Dgraph-AuthToken` In deployments where the Alpha HTTP port is reachable by untrusted parties, this is a practical authentication bypass to admin functionality.

Source published

24 Apr 2026 16:15:28 UTC

Source modified

10 Sep 2026 03:51:03 UTC

Observed here

24 Oct 2026 13:19:41 UTC

Source terms

GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0

Original source record · Cite this exact observation · Complete original publisher JSON

This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: osv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS_V3 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Publisher rating · CRITICAL