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Fencer Intel
critical 9.3

CVE-2026-61740 json

LightRAG: Authentication bypass: hardcoded DEFAULT_TOKEN_SECRET and public /auth-status defeat LIGHTRAG_API_KEY protection

published 3mo ago modified 18d ago also EUVD-2026-44671 , GHSA-f4vv-55c2-5789 , PYSEC-2026-3475

cvss
9.3
version 4.0, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.5%
EPSS 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 43%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

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.

Patch / fix

  • pypi lightrag-hku 1.5.4
  • hkuds lightrag 1.5.4

Is CVE-2026-61740 in your dependencies? Fencer shows which of your repositories are affected as soon as an advisory lands, and opens the fix as a pull request.

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CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Proof of concept is public
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
total
Assessed
3mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.51% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 43% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-11).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/security/advisories/GHSA-f4vv-55c2-5789 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 4.0 9.3 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
CNA 4.0 9.3 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

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
pypi lightrag-hku
<1.5.4
1.5.4

Affected products

  • HKUDS LightRAG

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-287 Improper Authentication
  • CWE-798 Use of Hard-coded Credentials

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

CPEs and fixed versions use Anchore's correction of NVD's data: Added CPE configurations because not yet analyzed by NVD.