CVE-2026-5622: Huly Platform Hard-Coded Key Vulnerability

CVE-2026-5622 Overview

A cryptographic vulnerability has been identified in hcengineering Huly Platform version 0.7.382. The vulnerability exists within the JWT Token Handler component, specifically in the file foundations/core/packages/token/src/token.ts. The issue involves the use of a hard-coded cryptographic key where the SERVER_SECRET argument is set to a predictable value of "secret", potentially allowing attackers to forge or manipulate JWT tokens.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers may exploit this hard-coded cryptographic key to bypass authentication mechanisms, forge valid JWT tokens, and compromise the integrity of the authentication system.

Affected Products

• hcengineering Huly Platform 0.7.382

Discovery Timeline

• April 6, 2026 - CVE-2026-5622 published to NVD
• April 7, 2026 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-5622

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability falls under CWE-320 (Key Management Errors) and represents a significant cryptographic weakness in the Huly Platform's JWT token handling mechanism. The core issue stems from the use of a hard-coded cryptographic key ("secret") for signing JWT tokens.

JWT (JSON Web Tokens) rely on cryptographic signatures to ensure authenticity and integrity. When the signing key is hard-coded and predictable, attackers who discover this value can forge arbitrary tokens that will be accepted as legitimate by the application. This undermines the entire authentication and authorization model built upon JWT verification.

The attack can be initiated remotely over the network, though the exploitation is considered to have high complexity. The vendor was contacted early about this disclosure but did not respond.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the use of a hard-coded value ("secret") for the SERVER_SECRET parameter in the JWT token handling code. This represents a fundamental violation of secure cryptographic key management practices, where secret keys should be dynamically generated, stored securely, and never hard-coded in source code.

Hard-coded credentials and cryptographic keys are particularly dangerous because they cannot be easily rotated, they are exposed to anyone with access to the source code, and they provide a consistent attack vector across all deployments of the affected software.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based, allowing remote exploitation without requiring user interaction or prior authentication. An attacker would need to:

1. Discover the hard-coded SERVER_SECRET value through source code analysis, reverse engineering, or reconnaissance
2. Use this secret to generate forged JWT tokens with arbitrary claims
3. Submit these forged tokens to the application to gain unauthorized access or elevated privileges

The vulnerability affects the integrity of the JWT-based authentication system. While the attack complexity is high due to the need to discover the hard-coded secret value, successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized modifications within the system.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-5622

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected JWT tokens appearing in authentication logs with unusual claims or payload structures
• Authentication events from users or sessions that don't correlate with legitimate access patterns
• Evidence of token forgery attempts in application logs showing invalid token formats followed by successful authentication

Detection Strategies

• Monitor JWT token validation failures for patterns that suggest brute-force attempts on the signing key
• Implement logging of all JWT token generations and compare against expected issuance patterns
• Review source code repositories for instances of hard-coded secrets in token handling modules

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging for the JWT Token Handler component to capture all token operations
• Set up alerts for authentication anomalies such as tokens with unexpected expiration times or claims
• Conduct regular security audits of cryptographic key management practices in the codebase

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-5622

Immediate Actions Required

• Replace the hard-coded SERVER_SECRET value with a cryptographically strong, randomly generated secret
• Rotate all existing JWT tokens as they may have been compromised
• Implement environment-based secret management to ensure secrets are not stored in source code
• Review all JWT tokens currently in circulation for signs of forgery

Patch Information

As of the last update on April 7, 2026, the vendor has not responded to disclosure attempts and no official patch has been released. Administrators should implement the workarounds below and monitor for vendor updates.

For more information, refer to the VulDB vulnerability entry and the VulDB submission details.

Workarounds

• Generate a new cryptographically secure random secret (minimum 256 bits) and configure it via environment variables
• Implement secret rotation mechanisms to periodically update the JWT signing key
• Consider migrating to asymmetric key pairs (RS256/ES256) for JWT signing to improve key management security
• Deploy additional authentication layers such as IP-based restrictions or multi-factor authentication

# Generate a secure random secret for JWT signing
openssl rand -base64 32 > /path/to/secure/jwt_secret.txt

# Set the secret via environment variable (do not commit to source control)
export SERVER_SECRET=$(cat /path/to/secure/jwt_secret.txt)

# Ensure proper file permissions on secret storage
chmod 600 /path/to/secure/jwt_secret.txt