CVE-2025-49001: DataEase Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2025-49001 Overview

CVE-2025-49001 is an authentication bypass vulnerability in DataEase, an open source business intelligence and data visualization tool. Prior to version 2.10.10, the application's secret verification mechanism does not function correctly, allowing attackers to use any arbitrary secret value to forge valid JWT tokens. This flaw enables unauthorized access to the application by circumventing the intended authentication controls.

Critical Impact

Attackers can forge JWT tokens using any secret value, completely bypassing authentication and potentially gaining unauthorized access to sensitive business intelligence data and dashboards.

Affected Products

• DataEase versions prior to 2.10.10
• DataEase Business Intelligence and Data Visualization Tool (all installations before the patched version)
• Self-hosted DataEase deployments running vulnerable versions

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-06-03 - CVE-2025-49001 published to NVD
• 2025-06-05 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-49001

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability represents a critical authentication bypass flaw (CWE-287: Improper Authentication) in DataEase's JWT token validation implementation. The core issue lies in the secret verification logic failing to properly validate the cryptographic signature of incoming JWT tokens. When the secret verification does not take effect successfully, the application essentially accepts JWT tokens signed with any arbitrary secret, making the authentication mechanism ineffective.

JWT (JSON Web Token) authentication relies on a shared secret or private key to cryptographically sign tokens. The server must verify this signature to ensure the token was issued by a trusted party and has not been tampered with. In this case, DataEase's implementation contains a flaw where the signature verification step either fails silently or is bypassed entirely, allowing malformed or attacker-crafted tokens to be accepted as valid.

Root Cause

The vulnerability stems from improper implementation of the JWT secret verification logic in DataEase. The secret validation code fails to correctly enforce cryptographic signature checks, likely due to:

• A logic error in the conditional statement that validates token signatures
• Missing or improper exception handling that causes verification failures to be silently ignored
• Incorrect implementation of the JWT library's verification methods

When the secret verification does not "take effect successfully," any JWT token presented to the application—regardless of the secret used to sign it—will be accepted as authentic. This completely undermines the security guarantees that JWT-based authentication is designed to provide.

Attack Vector

The attack is network-accessible and requires no prior authentication or user interaction. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by crafting a JWT token with arbitrary claims (such as elevated privileges or a different user identity) and signing it with any secret value of their choosing. The DataEase application will accept this forged token as legitimate, granting the attacker access to resources they should not be able to reach.

The exploitation flow involves:

1. The attacker generates a JWT token with desired claims (e.g., admin user identity)
2. The token is signed using any arbitrary secret string
3. The forged token is submitted to the DataEase application in authentication headers
4. DataEase fails to properly verify the signature against its configured secret
5. The attacker gains unauthorized access with the privileges specified in the forged token

For detailed technical information about the vulnerability mechanism, refer to the GitHub Security Advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-49001

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected or anomalous JWT tokens appearing in authentication logs with unfamiliar signature patterns
• Authentication events from users or service accounts that should not have access
• Unusual administrative actions performed by accounts that typically lack elevated privileges
• JWT tokens with timestamps or claims that do not align with legitimate application behavior

Detection Strategies

• Implement logging of all JWT validation events, including signature verification failures and successes
• Monitor for authentication attempts using JWT tokens with invalid or unexpected signature algorithms
• Review access logs for unauthorized access to sensitive dashboards or data exports
• Establish baseline authentication patterns and alert on deviations that may indicate token forgery

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose authentication logging in DataEase to capture JWT validation details
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules to detect malformed or suspicious JWT tokens
• Implement SIEM correlation rules to identify patterns consistent with authentication bypass attempts
• Conduct regular audits of user session activity and administrative action logs

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-49001

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade all DataEase installations to version 2.10.10 or later immediately
• Audit existing user sessions and revoke any suspicious or unexplained tokens
• Review recent access logs for evidence of unauthorized access while running vulnerable versions
• Reset JWT secrets and regenerate all existing tokens after applying the patch

Patch Information

The vulnerability has been fixed in DataEase version 2.10.10. Organizations should upgrade to this version or later as soon as possible. The patch corrects the secret verification logic to ensure JWT token signatures are properly validated against the configured secret before granting access.

For additional details, see the GitHub Security Advisory for GHSA-xx2m-gmwg-mf3r.

Workarounds

• No known workarounds are available according to the vendor advisory
• Place DataEase behind an additional authentication layer such as a reverse proxy with mTLS
• Implement network segmentation to restrict access to DataEase from untrusted networks
• Consider temporarily disabling external access to the application until the patch can be applied

# Upgrade DataEase to patched version
# Follow your deployment method's upgrade procedure
# Example for Docker-based deployment:
docker pull dataease/dataease:v2.10.10
docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d