Password auth and OAuth2 unverified email linking
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- Low · Low · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-287.
Summary
Pocketbase is an open source web backend written in go. In affected versions a malicious user may be able to compromise other user accounts. In order to be exploited users must have both OAuth2 and Password auth methods enabled. A possible attack scenario could be: 1. a malicious actor register with the targeted user's email (it is unverified), 2. at some later point in time the targeted user stumble on your app and decides to sign-up with OAuth2 (_this step could be also initiated by the attacker by sending an invite email to the targeted user_), 3. on successful OAuth2 auth we search for an existing PocketBase user matching with the OAuth2 user's email and associate them, 4. because we haven't changed the password of the existing PocketBase user during the linking, the malicious actor has access to the targeted user account and will be able to login with the initially created email/password. To prevent this for happening we now reset the password for this specific case if the previously created user wasn't verified (an exception to this is if the linking is explicit/manual, aka. when you send `Authorization:TOKEN` with the OAuth2 auth call). Additionally to warn existing users we now send an email alert in case the user has logged in with password but has at least one OAuth2 account linked. The flow will be further improved with ongoing refactoring and we will start sending emails for "unrecognized device" logins (OTP and MFA is already implemented and will be available with the next v0.23.0 release in the near future). For the time being users are advised to update to version 0.22.14. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pocketbase | pocketbase | before 0.22.14 | 0.22.14 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase (Go) | before 0.22.14 | 0.22.14 | Patch available | GHSA-m93w-4fxv-r35v |
- pocketbase Vendorpocketbase Affected before 0.22.14 Fixed in 0.22.14 Patch available CNA
- github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase (Go) Vendor— Affected before 0.22.14 Fixed in 0.22.14 Patch available GHSA-m93w-4fxv-r35v
Remediation
- Fix · CNA pocketbase (pocketbase) Fixed in 0.22.14
- Fix · GHSA-m93w-4fxv-r35v github.com/pocketbase/pocketbase (Go) Fixed in 0.22.14 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2024-38351
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-m93w-4fxv-r35v
References
More pocketbase vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-56822 Pocketbase: Unhandled panic in worker goroutines CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-32146 Pocketbase: Account pre-hijacking via OAuth2 unverfied->verified autolinking upgrade CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 6.1
Sources
- CVE-2024-38351 · CVE Program
- CVE-2024-38351 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-m93w-4fxv-r35v · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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