# CVE-2023-40260: Auth bypass in n/a

> Attackers can bypass MFA by changing the account email address using only the password, allowing them to receive MFA codes and take over accounts.

- **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:** 11 Aug 2023
- **Updated:** 10 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-9jcr-7x3f-ch35

## What is CVE-2023-40260?

CVE-2023-40260 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in n/a, published on 11 Aug 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

EmpowerID before 7.205.0.1 allows an attacker to bypass an MFA (multi factor authentication) requirement if the first factor (username and password) is known, because the first factor is sufficient to change an account's email address, and the product would then send MFA codes to the new email address (which may be attacker-controlled). NOTE: this is different from CVE-2023-4177, which claims to be about "some unknown processing of the component Multi-Factor Authentication Code Handler" and thus cannot be correlated with other vulnerability information.

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-40260?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Empowerid Empowerid.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-40260?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-40260 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-40260 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-40260 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2023-4177](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-4177/): EmpowerID Multi-Factor Authentication Code information disclosure (low 2.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-40260 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-40260 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in n/a, published on 11 Aug 2023. 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-2023-40260 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2023-40260/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-40260/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-40260
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-40260
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-40260

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-40260/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.