CVE-2026-61740LightRAG: Authentication bypass: hardcoded DEFAULT_TOKEN_SECRET and public /auth-status defeat LIGHTRAG_API_KEY protection
- 9.3CriticalCVSS base score
- 0.51%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 56% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- YesPublic exploitsa reference or SSVC says so
Description
LightRAG provides simple and fast retrieval-augmented generation. Prior to 1.5.4, when LightRAG is deployed with LIGHTRAG_API_KEY set but AUTH_ACCOUNTS unset, X-API-Key protection can be bypassed because lightrag/api/auth.py falls back to a hardcoded DEFAULT_TOKEN_SECRET, /auth-status and /login can mint guest JWTs, and combined_dependency in lightrag/api/utils_api.py accepts a valid guest token before checking the API key. A remote unauthenticated attacker can call endpoints guarded by combined_auth, including document read, upload, deletion, graph mutation, and query endpoints. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.5.4.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. A reference of the record is tagged as an exploit. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: a proof of concept is public.
Show the exploits1
References tagged exploit1 reference
- https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/security/advisories/GHSA-f4vv-55c2-5789 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMexploit
Timeline
ID reserved
By GitHub_M
- 5 days later
· 5 days later
Published
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub_MCNA (assigner) | 4.0 | Critical9.3 | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
| NVDNVD · Deferred | 4.0 | Critical9.3 | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.51% · top 56% of all CVEs (15 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: poc · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Critical 9.3.
Affected products
Affected packages
From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.
- PyPIlightrag-hkuGHSA-f4vv-55c2-5789 (opens in a new tab)
References
References4
- https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/security/advisories/GHSA-f4vv-55c2-5789 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMexploit
- https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/pull/3319 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/commit/f7819aa3a49a9d8d92eed8251d82d6ebcafa8cba (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/releases/tag/v1.5.4 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2026-44671 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-f4vv-55c2-5789 (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2026-61740)Record last updated .