# CVE-2023-40545: PingFederate OAuth client_secret_jwt Authentication Bypass

> Attackers can bypass authentication in PingFederate OAuth client_secret_jwt flows via crafted requests, requiring immediate patching.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 6 Feb 2024
- **Updated:** 22 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-37j2-h4x2-rp3v

## What is CVE-2023-40545?

CVE-2023-40545 is a high-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in PingFederate, published on 6 Feb 2024. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Authentication bypass when an OAuth2 Client is using client_secret_jwt as its authentication method on affected 11.3 versions via specially crafted requests.

Weakness: CWE-306 (Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-40545?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Pingidentity Pingfederate.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-40545?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-40545 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-40545 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-40545 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in PingFederate

- [CVE-2021-40329](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40329/): The Authentication API in Ping Identity PingFederate before 10.3 mishandles certain aspects of external password management. (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-37283](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-37283/): Authentication Bypass via HTML Form & Identifier First Adapter (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2022-40722](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-40722/): Misconfiguration of RSA padding for offline MFA in the PingID Adapter for PingFederate. (high 7.7)
- [CVE-2023-39219](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-39219/): Admin Console Denial of Service via Java class enumeration (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2021-41770](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41770/): XML external entity in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-40545 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-40545 is a high-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in PingFederate, published on 6 Feb 2024. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-40545 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: PingFederate. 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-2023-40545/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-40545/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-40545
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-40545
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-40545

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-40545/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.