{"id":"CVE-2026-61740","state":"PUBLISHED","title":"LightRAG: Authentication bypass: hardcoded DEFAULT_TOKEN_SECRET and public /auth-status defeat LIGHTRAG_API_KEY protection","description":"LightRAG provides simple and fast retrieval-augmented generation. Prior to 1.5.4, when LightRAG is deployed with LIGHTRAG_API_KEY set but AUTH_ACCOUNTS unset, X-API-Key protection can be bypassed because lightrag/api/auth.py falls back to a hardcoded DEFAULT_TOKEN_SECRET, /auth-status and /login can mint guest JWTs, and combined_dependency in lightrag/api/utils_api.py accepts a valid guest token before checking the API key. A remote unauthenticated attacker can call endpoints guarded by combined_auth, including document read, upload, deletion, graph mutation, and query endpoints. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.5.4.","publishedAt":"2026-07-15T14:14:41.064Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-15T15:30:39.185Z","severity":{"score":9.3,"label":"Critical","version":"4.0","vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N","source":"GitHub_M"},"assigner":"GitHub_M","products":["HKUDS LightRAG"],"affected":[{"vendor":"HKUDS","product":"LightRAG","versions":[{"version":"< 1.5.4","status":"affected"}]}],"references":["https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/security/advisories/GHSA-f4vv-55c2-5789","https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/pull/3319","https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/commit/f7819aa3a49a9d8d92eed8251d82d6ebcafa8cba","https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/releases/tag/v1.5.4"],"weaknesses":["CWE-287","CWE-798"],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-29T20:12:32.778Z","source":{"repository":"CVEProject/cvelistV5","path":"cves/2026/61xxx/CVE-2026-61740.json","commit":"556c9d3a8cd17e218bb8e452ba7cd619a384ff47"},"raw":{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2026-61740","state":"PUBLISHED","datePublished":"2026-07-15T14:14:41.064Z","dateUpdated":"2026-07-15T15:30:39.185Z","assignerShortName":"GitHub_M","assignerOrgId":"a0819718-46f1-4df5-94e2-005712e83aaa","dateReserved":"2026-07-10T18:59:00.047Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"title":"LightRAG: Authentication bypass: hardcoded DEFAULT_TOKEN_SECRET and public /auth-status defeat LIGHTRAG_API_KEY protection","descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"LightRAG provides simple and fast retrieval-augmented generation. Prior to 1.5.4, when LightRAG is deployed with LIGHTRAG_API_KEY set but AUTH_ACCOUNTS unset, X-API-Key protection can be bypassed because lightrag/api/auth.py falls back to a hardcoded DEFAULT_TOKEN_SECRET, /auth-status and /login can mint guest JWTs, and combined_dependency in lightrag/api/utils_api.py accepts a valid guest token before checking the API key. A remote unauthenticated attacker can call endpoints guarded by combined_auth, including document read, upload, deletion, graph mutation, and query endpoints. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.5.4."}],"affected":[{"vendor":"HKUDS","product":"LightRAG","versions":[{"version":"< 1.5.4","status":"affected"}]}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/security/advisories/GHSA-f4vv-55c2-5789","name":"https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/security/advisories/GHSA-f4vv-55c2-5789","tags":["x_refsource_CONFIRM"]},{"url":"https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/pull/3319","name":"https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/pull/3319","tags":["x_refsource_MISC"]},{"url":"https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/commit/f7819aa3a49a9d8d92eed8251d82d6ebcafa8cba","name":"https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/commit/f7819aa3a49a9d8d92eed8251d82d6ebcafa8cba","tags":["x_refsource_MISC"]},{"url":"https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/releases/tag/v1.5.4","name":"https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/releases/tag/v1.5.4","tags":["x_refsource_MISC"]}],"metrics":[{"cvssV4_0":{"attackVector":"NETWORK","attackComplexity":"LOW","attackRequirements":"NONE","privilegesRequired":"NONE","userInteraction":"NONE","vulnConfidentialityImpact":"HIGH","vulnIntegrityImpact":"HIGH","vulnAvailabilityImpact":"LOW","subConfidentialityImpact":"NONE","subIntegrityImpact":"NONE","subAvailabilityImpact":"NONE","baseScore":9.3,"baseSeverity":"CRITICAL","vectorString":"CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N","version":"4.0"}}],"problemTypes":[{"descriptions":[{"cweId":"CWE-287","lang":"en","description":"CWE-287: Improper Authentication","type":"CWE"}]},{"descriptions":[{"cweId":"CWE-798","lang":"en","description":"CWE-798: Use of Hard-coded Credentials","type":"CWE"}]}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"GitHub_M","orgId":"a0819718-46f1-4df5-94e2-005712e83aaa","dateUpdated":"2026-07-15T14:14:41.064Z"},"source":{"advisory":"GHSA-f4vv-55c2-5789","discovery":"UNKNOWN"}},"adp":[{"title":"CISA ADP Vulnrichment","references":[{"url":"https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/security/advisories/GHSA-f4vv-55c2-5789","tags":["exploit"]}],"metrics":[{"other":{"type":"ssvc","content":{"timestamp":"2026-07-15T15:14:50.443978Z","id":"CVE-2026-61740","options":[{"Exploitation":"poc"},{"Automatable":"yes"},{"Technical Impact":"total"}],"role":"CISA Coordinator","version":"2.0.3"}}}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"CISA-ADP","orgId":"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0","dateUpdated":"2026-07-15T15:30:39.185Z"}}]}}}