# CVE-2022-31013: Authentication bypass in Vartalap chat-server

> Attackers can bypass authentication in Vartalap chat server due to missing await on async token verification, allowing unauthorized access.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 31 May 2022
- **Updated:** 23 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-xx4j-qqpp-v277

## What is CVE-2022-31013?

CVE-2022-31013 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in ramank775 chat-server, published on 31 May 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Chat Server is the chat server for Vartalap, an open-source messaging application. Versions 2.3.2 until 2.6.0 suffer from a bug in validating the access token, resulting in authentication bypass. The function `this.authProvider.verifyAccessKey` is an async function, as the code is not using `await` to wait for the verification result. Every time the function responds back with success, along with an unhandled exception if the token is invalid. A patch is available in version 2.6.0.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation), CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-31013?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Chat Server Project Chat Server.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-31013?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-31013 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-31013 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-31013 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-31013 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-31013 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in ramank775 chat-server, published on 31 May 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-31013 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: ramank775 chat-server. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-31013/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-31013/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-31013
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-31013
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-31013

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-31013/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.