Summary
ZITADEL Users Can Self-Verify Email/Phone via API
A vulnerability in Zitadel's self-management capability allowed users to mark their email and phone as verified without going through an actual verification process.
While GHSA-282g-fhmx-xf54 (CVE-2026-27946, "Users Can Self-Verify Email/Phone via UpdateHumanUser API") closed the path that let any authenticated user mark an arbitrary email or phone as verified on their own account by calling UpdateHumanUser with email.is_verified: true, additional paths were discovered.
Affected Versions
Systems running one of the following versions are affected:
- 4.x:
4.0.0through4.15.0(including RC versions) - 3.x:
3.0.0through3.4.10(including RC versions) - 2.x:
2.43.0through2.71.19
Workarounds
The recommended solution is to upgrade to a patched version. If an upgrade is not possible, an action (v2) could be used to prevent returning the verification code to the own user.
Questions
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please email us at [email protected]
Credits
Thanks to eddieran for reporting this vulnerability.
Impact
Zitadel provides an API for managing users. The API also allows users to self-manage their own data including updating the email and phone.
Due to an improper permission check, the API allowed returning the verification code for the email and phone to the own user.
This allows users to claim ownership of an email or phone they do not control and potentially bypass email-based security policies.
Note that when changing another user's email or phone, regardless of the verification flag, the permissions were correctly checked.
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.
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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The vulnerability has been addressed in the latest releases. The patch resolves the issue by requiring the correct permission in case the verification flag is provided and only allows self-management of the email address, resp. phone number itself.
4.x: Upgrade to >=4.15.1
3.x: Update to >=3.4.11
2.x: Update to >=3.4.11
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-54693? CVE-2026-54693 is a high-severity incorrect authorization vulnerability in github.com/zitadel/zitadel (go), affecting versions >= 4.0.0, < 4.15.1. It is fixed in 1.80.0-v2.20.0.20260608144108-ed09b3df7f43. The application does not correctly enforce access controls, allowing a principal to access resources or operations beyond their granted permissions.
- Which versions of github.com/zitadel/zitadel are affected by CVE-2026-54693? github.com/zitadel/zitadel (go) versions >= 4.0.0, < 4.15.1 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-54693? Yes. CVE-2026-54693 is fixed in 1.80.0-v2.20.0.20260608144108-ed09b3df7f43. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-54693 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-54693 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-2026-54693 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-2026-54693? Upgrade
github.com/zitadel/zitadelto 1.80.0-v2.20.0.20260608144108-ed09b3df7f43 or later.