Summary
Pomerium service account access token may grant unintended access to databroker API
Who is affected?
A Pomerium deployment is susceptible to this issue if all of the following conditions are met:
- You have issued a service account access token using Pomerium Zero or Pomerium Enterprise.
- The access token has an explicit expiration date in the future.
- The core Pomerium databroker gRPC API is not otherwise secured by network access controls.
If your deployment does not meet all of these conditions, you are not affected by this vulnerability.
Details
The Pomerium databroker service is responsible for managing all persistent Pomerium application state. Requests to the databroker service API are authorized by the presence of a JSON Web Token (JWT) signed by a key known by all Pomerium services in the same deployment. However, incomplete validation of this JWT meant that some service account access tokens would incorrectly be treated as valid for the purpose of databroker API authorization.
Improper access to the databroker API could allow exfiltration of user info, spoofing of user sessions, or tampering with Pomerium routes, policies, and other settings.
Discovery
This issue was discovered during internal review. At this time we have no evidence to suggest that this vulnerability has been exploited in the wild.
Workarounds
If you cannot upgrade immediately, consider the following mitigations:
Network access controls: Restrict access to the Pomerium internal gRPC API by configuring your network firewall or security groups to limit access to trusted sources only. Ensure that the port specified in the
grpc_addresssetting is not exposed to unauthorized networks.For Pomerium Zero deployments only: As of Pomerium v0.26.0, you can disable the gRPC API listener by setting
grpc_address: ""in your YAML configuration file. In all-in-one mode, Pomerium does not require the internal gRPC API to be exposed beyond localhost.
For more information
If you have questions or need further assistance:
- Open an issue in the pomerium/pomerium repository.
- Contact us at [email protected].
Impact
We've identified a vulnerability in the Pomerium databroker service API that may grant unintended access under specific conditions. This affects only certain Pomerium Zero and Pomerium Enterprise deployments.
The application does not correctly enforce access controls, allowing a principal to access resources or operations beyond their granted permissions. Typical impact: unauthorized data access or execution of privileged operations.
CVE-2024-47616 has a CVSS score of 6.8 (High). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (0.27.1); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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See it in your environmentNew to Kodem? Get a demo →Remediation advice
We have released Pomerium v0.27.1 which includes a fix for the JWT validation logic. All affected users are strongly encouraged to upgrade to this version.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2024-47616? CVE-2024-47616 is a high-severity incorrect authorization vulnerability in github.com/pomerium/pomerium (go), affecting versions < 0.27.1. It is fixed in 0.27.1. The application does not correctly enforce access controls, allowing a principal to access resources or operations beyond their granted permissions.
- How severe is CVE-2024-47616? CVE-2024-47616 has a CVSS score of 6.8 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of github.com/pomerium/pomerium are affected by CVE-2024-47616? github.com/pomerium/pomerium (go) versions < 0.27.1 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2024-47616? Yes. CVE-2024-47616 is fixed in 0.27.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2024-47616 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2024-47616 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2024-47616 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2024-47616? Upgrade
github.com/pomerium/pomeriumto 0.27.1 or later.