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Full vulnerability report · 2026
CVE-2023-54391High confidence

Proxmox VE 7.0-8.0 Authentication Bypass via tfa-challenge Parameter

Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH · Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE)

9.3CriticalCVSS 4.0
Recommended action
Within 72 hours

Critical technical impact with a remotely reachable, unauthenticated path; no CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.

Patch available
R
Operational reassessment

Published severity in operational context

Open reassessment dashboard →
Published severityCriticalOperational priority:Critical, unchanged from published severity.unchanged

Evidence used

  • No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
  • The selected CVSS metric records a network-reachable, unauthenticated path with no user interaction.
  • EPSS is 3.25% for the current model date.

Compensating controls

  • Validate the affected product branch and deploy the verified fixed release.
  • Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
  • Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.

Verification

  1. Confirm that the asset runs Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE) and falls inside the recorded affected range.
  2. Verify the installed build against the product-specific fixed version after deployment.
  3. Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
  4. Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Mitigation target: Within 3 daysRemediation target: Within 90 days

This automated reassessment organises public evidence. It does not know asset exposure, business impact or control effectiveness and does not replace CVSS or a human risk decision.

Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2023-60613

No EUVD known-exploited evidence

Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE) 7.0 through 8.0 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in libpve-access-control before 8.0.4 that allows unauthenticated attackers to authenticate as any existing enabled user without a configured second factor by supplying an arbitrary tfa-challenge value in the API login endpoint. Attackers can send a POST request to the access ticket API endpoint with any value in the tfa-challenge parameter to completely skip password verification, gaining unauthorized access including to the root@pam account. All affected releases are end of life.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
9.3 · CVSS 4.0
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionWithin 72 hours

Critical technical impact with a remotely reachable, unauthenticated path; no CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.

Patch available
01

What, why and how

Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE) 7.0 through 8.0 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in libpve-access-control before 8.0.4 that allows unauthenticated attackers to authenticate as any existing enabled user without a configured second factor by supplying an arbitrary tfa-challenge value in the API login endpoint. Attackers can send a POST request to the access ticket API endpoint with any value in the tfa-challenge parameter to completely skip password verification, gaining unauthorized access including to the root@pam account. All affected releases are end of life.

What

Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE) 7.0 through 8.0 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in libpve-access-control before 8.0.4 that allows unauthenticated attackers to authenticate as any existing enabled user without a configured second factor by supplying an arbitrary tfa-challenge value in the API login endpoint. Attackers can send a POST request to the access ticket API endpoint with any value in the tfa-challenge parameter to completely skip password verification, gaining unauthorized access including to the root@pam account. All affected releases are end of life.

Why

The product implements an authentication technique, but it skips a step that weakens the technique.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may bypass an access boundary or take over an account.

What

Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE) 7.0 through 8.0 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in libpve-access-control before 8.0.4 that allows unauthenticated attackers to authenticate as any existing enabled user without a configured second factor by supplying an arbitrary tfa-challenge value in the API login endpoint. Attackers can send a POST request to the access ticket API endpoint with any value in the tfa-challenge parameter to completely skip password verification, gaining unauthorized access including to the root@pam account. All affected releases are end of life.

Why

The product implements an authentication technique, but it skips a step that weakens the technique.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may bypass an access boundary or take over an account.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
No confirmed evidence

No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.

Likely attack path
a network path → Missing Critical Step in Authentication → bypass an access boundary or take over an account
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Not a CVSS 4.0 base metric
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-304 ↗

CWE-304: Missing Critical Step in Authentication. The product implements an authentication technique, but it skips a step that weakens the technique.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 4.0: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.ATNoneAttack requirements: No additional deployment or execution condition is required.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.VCHighVulnerable-system confidentiality: A successful attack can cause a major loss.VIHighVulnerable-system integrity: A successful attack can cause a major loss.VAHighVulnerable-system availability: A successful attack can cause a major loss.SCNoneSubsequent-system confidentiality: No direct loss is represented by this metric.SINoneSubsequent-system integrity: No direct loss is represented by this metric.SANoneSubsequent-system availability: No direct loss is represented by this metric.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
Stolen credentials, tokens and legitimate administration functions may provide continued access without deploying a large custom toolset.
NetworkUnauthenticatedCWE-304
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-60613Official EUVD mapping

Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE) 7.0 through 8.0 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability in libpve-access-control before 8.0.4 that allows unauthenticated attackers to authenticate as any existing enabled user without a configured second factor by supplying an arbitrary tfa-challenge value in the API login endpoint. Attackers can send a POST request to the access ticket API endpoint with any value in the tfa-challenge parameter to completely skip password verification, gaining unauthorized access including to the root@pam account. All affected releases are end of life.

Official EUVD record ↗
BSI · German · WID-SEC-2026-3144Proxmox Virtual Environment: Schwachstelle ermöglicht Erlangen von Administratorrechten

Ein entfernter, anonymer Angreifer kann eine Schwachstelle in Proxmox Virtual Environment ausnutzen, um Administratorrechte zu erlangen.

Official advisory ↗
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Patch available
Affected
Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE): 7.0 ≤ 7.4, 8.0
Fixed
An authoritative update reference is available, but the fixed version is not recorded in the structured CVE fields. Check the linked vendor advisory for the applicable release.
Action
Review the linked authoritative reference and apply the recorded fixed release appropriate to the affected product branch.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 1 Sept 2026 · Last source change 1 Oct 2026, 15:19 UTC · CWE-304 · Missing Critical Step in Authentication

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.2
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-09-02
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-60613
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD not scheduled

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates ↗
  1. Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
    Before
    7.0 ≤ 7.4; 8.0 · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    After
    Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE): 7.0 ≤ 7.4, 8.0 · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    CNA ↗
  2. BlackTree coverageBlackTree article coverage changed from no BlackTree article to 1 BlackTree article.
    Before
    no BlackTree article
    After
    1 BlackTree article
    BlackTree editorial ↗
  3. ENISA EUVD mappingEUVD-2023-60613 was added to the official ENISA EUVD mapping for this CVE.
    Before
    not recorded
    After
    {"euvdId":"EUVD-2023-60613"}
    ENISA EUVD ↗
  4. Catalogue recordCVE added to the BlackTree catalogue.
    CNA ↗
Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
CVE published
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-60613↗CVE authority or vendor reference↗Official CVE record (CNA and ADP data)↗NVD record↗
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2023-54391 · cve.blacktree.nl