GHSA-vvf7-6rmr-m29q
Dgraph: Unauthenticated Admin Token Disclosure Leading to Authentication Bypass via /debug/vars
Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Go | github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph/v25 | < 25.3.3 | 25.3.3 |
| Go | github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph/v24 | <= 24.1.8 | no fix listed |
| Go | github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph | <= 1.2.8 | no fix listed |
Details
As written in the advisory (Markdown source, shown as plain text).
### 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.
References
External links from the advisory. They lead to third-party sites.