CVE-2024-52008 in fides
Summary
by MITRE • 11/26/2024
Fides is an open-source privacy engineering platform. The user invite acceptance API endpoint lacks server-side password policy enforcement, allowing users to set arbitrarily weak passwords by bypassing client-side validation. While the UI enforces password complexity requirements, direct API calls can circumvent these checks, enabling the creation of accounts with passwords as short as a single character. When an email messaging provider is enabled and a new user account is created in the system, an invite email containing a special link is sent to the new user's email address. This link directs the new user to a page where they can set their initial password. While the user interface implements password complexity checks, these validations are only performed client-side. The underlying `/api/v1/user/accept-invite` API endpoint does not implement the same password policy validations. This vulnerability allows an invited user to set an extremely weak password for their own account during the initial account setup process. Therefore that specific user's account can be compromised easily by an attacker guessing or brute forcing the password. The vulnerability has been patched in Fides version `2.50.0`. Users are advised to upgrade to this version or later to secure their systems against this threat. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/23/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-52008 affects Fides, an open-source privacy engineering platform that provides comprehensive data governance and privacy management capabilities. This security flaw represents a critical weakness in the platform's authentication mechanism, specifically within the user invitation acceptance workflow. The vulnerability stems from a fundamental architectural issue where client-side validation controls are relied upon exclusively for password policy enforcement, while the corresponding server-side API endpoint fails to implement equivalent security measures. This design flaw creates a dangerous gap in the platform's security posture, allowing malicious actors to exploit the system's trust in client-side validation to bypass essential password complexity requirements.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs within the `/api/v1/user/accept-invite` API endpoint which serves as the critical interface for new user account initialization. While the web-based user interface correctly enforces password complexity requirements through client-side JavaScript validation, the underlying API endpoint operates without any server-side password policy enforcement mechanisms. This discrepancy enables attackers to craft direct API requests that bypass all client-side validation checks, allowing them to submit passwords of arbitrary length and complexity. The system accepts any password input, including single-character passwords, effectively eliminating any meaningful password strength requirements that should normally protect user accounts from automated guessing attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple password weakness, creating a significant risk vector for account compromise and potential system infiltration. When the email messaging provider is enabled within the Fides platform, the invitation process automatically generates and sends special links to new user email addresses, directing them to a password setup page. The vulnerability allows attackers to intercept this invitation process and programmatically submit weak passwords during account initialization, making the system susceptible to both dictionary attacks and brute force attempts. This weakness directly violates industry security standards and best practices, as it demonstrates a failure to implement proper input validation and server-side security controls that should be fundamental to any authentication system.
The security implications of this vulnerability align with CWE-1321, which addresses the lack of server-side validation for client-side security controls, and represents a clear violation of the principle of defense in depth. Attackers can leverage this weakness to systematically compromise user accounts through automated tools, potentially gaining access to sensitive privacy data and governance controls managed by the Fides platform. The vulnerability also maps to ATT&CK technique T1110.003, which covers credential stuffing and password spraying attacks, as the weak password acceptance creates ideal conditions for such exploitation methods. Organizations using Fides are particularly vulnerable since the platform's core functionality revolves around privacy data management, making compromised accounts potentially catastrophic for data protection and regulatory compliance.
The remediation for this vulnerability requires immediate upgrading to Fides version 2.50.0 or later, as the patch implements proper server-side password policy enforcement within the user invite acceptance API endpoint. This fix ensures that all password inputs are validated against the same complexity requirements regardless of whether they originate from the user interface or direct API calls. Organizations should also conduct comprehensive security assessments of their Fides deployments to identify any potential exploitation attempts that may have occurred prior to patching. The vulnerability serves as a stark reminder of the critical importance of implementing robust server-side validation controls and avoiding reliance on client-side security measures for enforcing essential authentication policies.