GitHub Advisoryadvisory · npm
GHSA-v667-gc2r-2xm7 Qinglong has an incomplete fix for CVE-2026-3965: Improper Authentication
CRITICAL
Official page ↗
- Aliases
- CVE-2026-55445
- Ecosystem
- npm
- Packages
- @whyour/qinglong
- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- Weaknesses
- CWE-287
- Reviewed
- 2026-08-20
Affected packages
• npm @whyour/qinglong: < 2.20.1 → fixed in 2.20.1
Description
Summary
The init guard middleware in Qinglong only checks `/api/user/init` paths but not `/open/user/init`, which is whitelisted from JWT authentication and rewritten to `/api/user/init` after the guard has already passed, allowing unauthenticated admin credential reset on initialized instances.
Affected Package
• Ecosystem: npm
• Package: whyour/qinglong
• Affected versions: = 6bec52dca158
Severity
Medium
CWE
CWE-287 — Improper Authentication
Details
The Qinglong panel has an initialization endpoint (`/api/user/init`) that allows setting admin credentials. Once the system is initialized, an init guard middleware is supposed to block further calls. The middleware in `back/loaders/express.ts` only checks:
```javascript
!['/api/user/init', '/api/user/notification/init'].includes(pathLower)
```
However, the application also has a URL rewrite rule: `rewrite('/open/*', '/api/$1')`. The `/open/*` paths are whitelisted from JWT authentication.
The middleware ordering creates the bypass: first, JWT auth sees `/open/*` paths match the whitelist regex and skips authentication. Second, the init guard only checks for `/api/user/init` -- `/open/user/init` passes through as "not an init path". Third, the URL rewrite transforms `/open/user/init` to `/api/user/init` after the guard has already passed.
This means an unauthenticated attacker can send `PUT /open/user/init` with new credentials to reset the admin account on any Qinglong panel instance, gaining full administrative access.
PoC
```javascript
/**
• CVE-2026-3965 - Qinglong Panel /open/user/init Auth Bypass
*
• The init guard middleware only checks /api/user/init paths.
• But /open/user/init is whitelisted from JWT auth and rewritten
• to /api/user/init via express-urlrewrite AFTER the guard.
*/
"use strict";
// Simulate the init guard middleware exactly as in the source
function initGuardMiddleware(reqPath, authInfo) {
const pathLower = reqPath.toLowerCase();
// Exact check from the vulnerable source
if (!['/api/user/init', '/api/user/notification/init'].includes(pathLower)) {
return { action: "next" }; // passes through
}
let isInitialized = true;
if (
Object.keys(authInfo).length === 2 &&
authInfo.username === 'admin' &&
authInfo.password === 'admin'
) {
isInitialized = false;
}
if (isInitialized) {
return { action: "block", code: 450, message: "Error" };
} else {
return { action: "next" };
}
}
const authInfo = { username: "realAdmin", password: "str0ngP@ss!" };
console.log("System state: initialized (non-default credentials)");
// Test 1: Direct /api/user/init is blocked
const test1 = initGuardMiddleware("/api/user/init", authInfo);
console.log("\n[Test 1] PUT /api/user/init:");
console.log(" Guard result:", test1.action);
console.log(" Blocked:", test1.action === "block");
// Test 2: /open/user/init BYPASSES init guard
const test2 = initGuardMiddleware("/open/user/init", authInfo);
console.log("\n[Test 2] PUT /open/user/init:");
console.log(" Guard result:", test2.action);
console.log(" Bypassed guard:", test2.action === "next");
if (test2.action === "next") {
const rewrittenPath = "/open/user/init".replace(/^\/open\//, "/api/");
console.log(" After rewrite:", rewrittenPath);
console.log(" Reaches init handler: true");
}
if (test1.action === "block" && test2.action === "next") {
console.log("\nVULNERABILITY CONFIRMED: /open/user/init bypasses the init guard");
console.log("An attacker can reset admin credentials on an initialized instance.");
process.exit(0);
} else {
console.log("\nVULNERABILITY NOT CONFIRMED");
process.exit(1);
}
```
Steps to reproduce:
1. `git clone https://github.com/whyour/qinglong /tmp/qinglong_test`
2. `cd /tmp/qinglong_test && git checkout 6bec52dc~1`
3. `node poc.js`
Expected output:
```
VULNERABILITY CONFIRMED
/open/user/init bypasses the init guard; the guard only checks /api/user/init but /open/ path is whitelisted and rewritten after.
```
Impact
An unauthenticated attacker can send `PUT /open/user/init` with new credentials to reset the admin account on any Qinglong panel instance. This provides full administrative access, enabling the attacker to execute arbitrary cron jobs and scripts on the server.
Suggested Remediation
Add `/open/user/init` and `/open/user/notification/init` to the init guard check list. Alternatively, move the URL rewrite middleware to run before the init guard. Consider implementing the init guard at the handler level rather than as path-based middleware.
References
• Incomplete fix commit: https://github.com/whyour/qinglong/commit/6bec52dca158481258315ba0fc2f11206df7b719
• Original CVE: CVE-2026-3965
Related
Alias · CVE (1)
- CVE-2026-55445 Qinglong is a timed task management platform supporting Python3, JavaScript, Shell, and Typescript. vulnerability
Weakness · CWE (1)
- CWE-287 Improper Authentication weakness
References
- https://github.com/whyour/qinglong/security/advisories/GHSA-v667-gc2r-2xm7 web
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-55445 advisory
- https://github.com/whyour/qinglong/pull/2941 web
- https://github.com/whyour/qinglong/commit/6bec52dca158481258315ba0fc2f11206df7b719 web
- https://github.com/whyour/qinglong package