CVE-2025-13877

Authentication Bypass via Default JWT Secret in NocoBase docker-compose Deployments

CVE-2025-13877 is an authentication bypass vulnerability caused by insecure default JWT key usage in NocoBase Docker deployments.

Because the official one-click Docker deployment configuration historically provided a public default JWT key, attackers can forge valid JWT tokens without possessing any legitimate credentials. By constructing a token with a known userId (commonly the administrator account), an attacker can directly bypass authentication and authorization checks.

Successful exploitation allows an attacker to:

• Bypass authentication entirely
• Impersonate arbitrary users
• Gain full administrator privileges
• Access sensitive business data
• Create, modify, or delete users
• Access cloud storage credentials and other protected secrets

The vulnerability is remotely exploitable, requires no authentication, and public proof-of-concept exploits are available.
This issue is functionally equivalent in impact to other JWT secret exposure vulnerabilities such as CVE-2024-43441 and CVE-2025-30206.

Deployments that used the default Docker configuration without explicitly overriding the JWT secret are affected.

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✅ The vulnerability has been fully patched through a secure JWT key management redesign.

The remediation enforces the following security guarantees:

• JWT secrets are no longer allowed to fall back to public default values.
• Secrets must either:
  • Be explicitly provided by the user, or
  • Be securely generated using cryptographically strong randomness at first startup.
• Generated secrets are persisted securely with restricted filesystem permissions.
• Invalid or weak secret values immediately trigger a startup failure.

✅ Fixed Versions:

• NocoBase ≥ 1.9.23
• NocoBase ≥ 1.9.0-beta.18
• NocoBase ≥ 2.0.0-alpha.52

1. What is CVE-2025-13877? CVE-2025-13877 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in @nocobase/auth (npm), affecting versions >= 1.9.0, <= 1.9.21. It is fixed in 1.9.23, 1.9.0-beta.18, 2.0.0-alpha.52.
2. Which versions of @nocobase/auth are affected by CVE-2025-13877? @nocobase/auth (npm) versions >= 1.9.0, <= 1.9.21 is affected.
3. Is there a fix for CVE-2025-13877? Yes. CVE-2025-13877 is fixed in 1.9.23, 1.9.0-beta.18, 2.0.0-alpha.52. Upgrade to this version or later.
4. Is CVE-2025-13877 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-13877 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
5. What actually determines whether CVE-2025-13877 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.
6. How do I fix CVE-2025-13877?
   • Upgrade @nocobase/auth to 1.9.23 or later
   • Upgrade @nocobase/auth to 1.9.0-beta.18 or later
   • Upgrade @nocobase/auth to 2.0.0-alpha.52 or later