GHSA-h4fw-6r7f-w494
## Summary In version 5.3.0 of the Symfony bundle, `Webauthn\Bundle\Policy\ClientOverridePolicy` defaulted to allowing all client overrides, including `userVerification`. A client could send `{"userVerification": "discouraged"}` in the assertion or attestation options request to override a server-configured `userVerification: required`, causing the emitted WebAuthn options to instruct the authenticator to skip user verification. The `CheckUserVerification` ceremony step then read the same downgraded options and skipped its check. ## Affected versions - **Vulnerable**: 5.3.0 - **Patched**: 5.3.1 5.3.0 was released on 2026-05-01 and 5.3.1 was published roughly 18 hours later, on 2026-05-02. Practical exposure window was minimal. ## Note on earlier 5.x versions Versions 5.0.0 to 5.2.x did not ship `ClientOverridePolicy` (introduced in 5.3.0), so the exact code path described above does not apply. However, on those versions the `ProfileBasedRequestOptionsBuilder` and `ProfileBasedCreationOptionsBuilder` already passed the client-supplied `userVerification` value directly to the options factory, where the profile value is only applied via `??=`. The functional outcome (a client can downgrade `userVerification`) is the same. The recommended mitigation (see below) applies regardless of the version, and users on 5.0.x – 5.2.x are encouraged to upgrade to 5.3.1 or later. ## Severity This is a **defense-in-depth** issue rather than a primitive that grants authentication on its own: - The attacker must already possess the victim's authenticator (a stolen security key, an unlocked device). Without that, the downgrade is inconsequential. - The framework exposes the actual UV outcome on the returned authenticator data (`AuthenticatorData::isUserVerified()`). Applications that gate sensitive operations on this flag — as documented — remain protected even on the vulnerable version. ## Mitigation Applications gating sensitive operations on user verification MUST re-check
Properties
- ghsa_id
- GHSA-h4fw-6r7f-w494
- severity
- low
- summary
- Webauthn has a User Verification Downgrade via Default-Open ClientOverridePolicy
- cvss_score
- 2.1
- cve_id
- GHSA-h4fw-6r7f-w494
- cvss_vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
- is_ghsa_only
- true
- ghsa_published
- 2026-05-07T21:05:33Z
- source_url
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-h4fw-6r7f-w494
- ghsa_updated
- 2026-05-07T21:05:34Z
Related Entities (4)
VULNERABLE_TO (1)
AFFECTS (1)
HAS_WEAKNESS (1)
REPORTED_BY (1)
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