GitHub Advisoryadvisory · npm
GHSA-gv74-j8m3-fg5f @better-auth/sso: SSO provider may allow registration for any org member without a checking their role
HIGH
Official page ↗
- Aliases
- CVE-2026-53515
- Ecosystem
- npm
- Packages
- @better-auth/sso
- Severity
- High
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N
- Weaknesses
- CWE-269, CWE-285, CWE-863
- Reviewed
- 2026-07-20
Affected packages
• npm @better-auth/sso: >= 1.2.10, < 1.6.11 → fixed in 1.6.11
Description
Am I affected?
You are affected if all of the following are true:
• You depend on `@better-auth/sso` at any version in `>= 1.2.10, < 1.6.11`, or any current `next` pre-release.
• You enable both `sso()` and `organization()` plugins.
• `providersLimit` is at its default (`10`) or any non-zero value, so SSO provider registration is enabled for authenticated users.
• An organization has non-admin members, or your application can add users to organizations as regular members.
You are at the highest risk if any of these also hold:
• Organization membership can be obtained without a direct admin decision, such as through open invitations, self-serve onboarding, public team joins, or SCIM bulk imports.
• `organizationProvisioning.defaultRole` or `organizationProvisioning.getRole` returns `admin` or higher for SSO-provisioned users. The bug then becomes unauthorized admin creation in the org.
• `domainVerification.enabled` is `false` (the default). The malicious provider is immediately usable.
Fix:
1. Upgrade to `@better-auth/[email protected]` or later.
2. If you cannot upgrade, see workarounds below.
Summary
The SSO plugin's `POST /sso/register` endpoint lets any member of an organization attach a new SSO provider to that organization. It checks that the caller has a membership row, but it does not check whether the caller has an administrative role for the organization.
This creates an authorization mismatch for the same resource. Other org-linked SSO provider management endpoints treat those providers as admin-managed: list, get, update, and delete require the caller to be an organization `owner` or `admin`. The create path is less restrictive, so a regular member can attach an attacker-controlled OIDC or SAML identity provider to an organization they do not administer. After registration, downstream organization provisioning can add IdP-asserted users from `/sso/callback/{providerId}` into the target organization, defaulting to role `member`.
Details
This issue does not rely on a separate documentation statement that only admins may create SSO connections. The issue is that Better Auth already enforces an admin boundary for org-linked SSO provider management, but `registerSSOProvider` does not enforce the same boundary when the provider is first created.
The list, get, update, and delete endpoints in `providers.ts` gate org-linked SSO providers via `isOrgAdmin`, which accepts `owner` or `admin`. The create path in `sso.ts` performs only a membership lookup and never inspects `member.role`. As a result, the endpoint allows a low-privilege organization member to create a provider record that they would not be allowed to view, update, or delete through the companion provider-management endpoints.
The fix introduces a shared `hasOrgAdminRole(member)` helper (refactored out of `isOrgAdmin`) and adds the admin check to the registration handler so that registration matches the protections on the read and mutation paths.
Patches
Fixed in `@better-auth/[email protected]`. When `organizationId` is supplied and the `organization` plugin is enabled, the `registerSSOProvider` handler now requires the caller to hold the `owner` or `admin` role on the target organization. This makes provider creation match the existing protection on the get, update, and delete endpoints.
Workarounds
If you cannot upgrade immediately:
• Disable user-driven SSO registration entirely: set `sso({ providersLimit: 0 })`. Registration throws `FORBIDDEN` before the membership gate. Trade-off: admins also lose self-serve provider creation; provisioning has to go through server-side `auth.api.registerSSOProvider({ headers: serverAdminHeaders, body })` calls.
• Disable SSO-driven org provisioning: set `sso({ organizationProvisioning: { disabled: true } })`. The malicious provider can still be registered, but the SSO callback no longer adds users to the org automatically. Trade-off: legitimate SSO-driven onboarding stops.
• Custom `before` hook on `/sso/register` that asserts the caller's role on `body.organizationId` is `owner` or `admin`. This duplicates the patch shape in user code.
• Audit existing rows: list `ssoProvider` rows where `organizationId IS NOT NULL`, cross-reference each `userId` with `member.role` for that organization, and remove provider rows whose creator is not currently `owner` or `admin`. Removing the provider does not auto-remove members it created, so cleanup is two-step.
Impact
• Unauthorized provider configuration within an organization tenant: a regular member writes an SSO provider record on an organization they do not administer.
• Unauthorized organization membership creation: subsequent SSO callbacks can add IdP-asserted users to the target organization at the configured default role.
• Admin creation when configured: if `organizationProvisioning.defaultRole` is `admin`, or `organizationProvisioning.getRole` returns `admin`, the issue can create admin-grade users in the target organization without owner consent.
Credit
Reported by @Nadav0077. The same finding was previously raised in public issue #9133 (2026-04-12).
Related
Alias · CVE (1)
- CVE-2026-53515 Better Auth is an authentication and authorization library for TypeScript. vulnerability
References
- https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/security/advisories/GHSA-gv74-j8m3-fg5f web
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53515 advisory
- https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/issues/9133 web
- https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/pull/9220 web
- https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/commit/86765f1597378f5c3deed1b80ca91faac0a6bf00 web
- https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth package
- https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.6.11 web