Open WebUI has an LDAP Empty Password Authentication Bypass

# LDAP Empty Password Authentication Bypass ## Affected Component LDAP authentication endpoint: - `backend/open_webui/routers/auths.py` (lines 468-477, user bind with empty password) - `backend/open_webui/models/auths.py` (lines 58-60, `LdapForm` model) ## Affected Versions Current main branch (commit `6fdd19bf1`) and likely all versions with LDAP authentication support. ## Description The LDAP authentication endpoint does not validate that the submitted password is non-empty before performing a Simple Bind against the LDAP server. Per RFC 4513 Section 5.1.2, a Simple Bind with a valid DN and an empty password constitutes an "unauthenticated simple authentication" , many LDAP servers (including OpenLDAP in default configuration and some Active Directory setups) return success (resultCode 0) for this operation. The `LdapForm` Pydantic model accepts `password: str` with no minimum length constraint, so an empty string passes validation. The subsequent `Connection.bind()` call succeeds on vulnerable LDAP servers, and the application issues a full session token for the target user. ```python # models/auths.py:58-60 , no min_length on password class LdapForm(BaseModel): user: str password: str # auths.py:469-477 , empty password reaches LDAP bind connection_user = Connection( server, user_dn, form_data.password, # can be "" auto_bind='NONE', authentication='SIMPLE', ) if not await asyncio.to_thread(connection_user.bind): raise HTTPException(400, 'Authentication failed.') # If bind succeeds (which it does with empty password on many servers), # execution continues and a full session token is issued ``` ## CVSS 3.1 Breakdown | Metric | Value | Rationale | |--------|-------|-----------| | Attack Vector | Network (N) | Exploited remotely via the LDAP login endpoint | | Attack Complexity | Low (L) | Single request with an empty password field | | Privileges Required | None (N) | No prior authentication needed | | User Interaction | None (N) | No victim interaction required | | Scope | Unchanged (U) | Impact within the application's authentication boundary | | Confidentiality | High (H) | Full access to victim's account data , chats, files, API keys, settings | | Integrity | High (H) | Can modify victim's data, settings, send messages as victim | | Availability | None (N) | No direct denial of service | ## Attack Scenario 1. LDAP authentication is enabled on the Open WebUI instance. 2. The underlying LDAP server accepts unauthenticated simple binds (OpenLDAP default, some AD configs). 3. Attacker sends: ``` POST /api/v1/auths/ldap {"user": "admin_username", "password": ""} ``` 4. The app DN bind succeeds normally (line 366), finds the target user via LDAP search. 5. The user bind (line 469-477) sends a Simple Bind with the target's DN and an empty password. 6. The LDAP server returns success for the unauthenticated bind. 7. `authenticate_user_by_email` (line 507) issues a full session token for the target user. 8. Attacker has complete access to the victim's account. ## Impact - Complete authentication bypass , any LDAP user account can be taken over without knowing the password - Includes admin accounts if they authenticate via LDAP - No rate limiting on the LDAP endpoint (unlike the password signin endpoint) - Zero interaction required from the victim ## Preconditions - LDAP must be enabled (`ENABLE_LDAP=True`, disabled by default) - The LDAP server must accept unauthenticated simple binds with empty passwords (OpenLDAP default behavior, configurable on AD) - Attacker must know a valid LDAP username

CVSS 3.1

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Severity from

GitHub (reviewed advisory)

Weakness

CWE-287

Also known as

CVE-2026-44551, PYSEC-2026-435

• github.com/open-webui/open-webui/security/advisories/GHSA-2r4p-jpmg-48f4
• nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-44551
• github.com/open-webui/open-webui