CVE-2024-32868: ZITADEL's Improper Lockout Mechanism Leads to MFA Bypass

Severity: high (CVSS 8.1 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.5% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2024-04-26 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-297

Description

ZITADEL provides users the possibility to use Time-based One-Time-Password (TOTP) and One-Time-Password (OTP) through SMS and Email. While ZITADEL already gives administrators the option to define a `Lockout Policy` with a maximum amount of failed password check attempts, there was no such mechanism for (T)OTP checks. This issue has been patched in version 2.50.0.

Affected products

zitadel: before 2.50.0 — fixed in 2.50.0

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: zitadel 2.50.0. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v2.50.0
https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/security/advisories/GHSA-7j7j-66cv-m239
https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/releases/tag/v2.50.0
https://github.com/zitadel/zitadel/security/advisories/GHSA-7j7j-66cv-m239

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