Vulnerability · Published Jul 15, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M

CVE-2026-61740LightRAG: Authentication bypass: hardcoded DEFAULT_TOKEN_SECRET and public /auth-status defeat LIGHTRAG_API_KEY protection

Critical 9.3

In plain English

A critical-severity improper authentication in LightRAG from HKUDS. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.5% (higher than 44% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 4.0)9.3Critical

Exploit odds (30 days)0.5%top 56.4% of all CVEs

Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: poc

Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

LightRAG provides simple and fast retrieval-augmented generation. Prior to 1.5.4, when LightRAG is deployed with LIGHTRAG_API_KEY set but AUTH_ACCOUNTS unset, X-API-Key protection can be bypassed because lightrag/api/auth.py falls back to a hardcoded DEFAULT_TOKEN_SECRET, /auth-status and /login can mint guest JWTs, and combined_dependency in lightrag/api/utils_api.py accepts a valid guest token before checking the API key. A remote unauthenticated attacker can call endpoints guarded by combined_auth, including document read, upload, deletion, graph mutation, and query endpoints. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.5.4.

Affected packages & fixed versions

Ecosystem	Package	Fixed in	Advisory
PyPI	lightrag-hku	1.5.4	GHSA-f4vv-55c2-5789
PyPI	lightrag-hku	1.5.4	PYSEC-2026-3475

Affected products (as reported)

Vendor	Product	Versions
HKUDS	LightRAG	< 1.5.4

Weakness: CWE-287, CWE-798 · Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

References

https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/security/advisories/GHSA-f4vv-55c2-5789 x_refsource_CONFIRM
https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/pull/3319 x_refsource_MISC
https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/commit/f7819aa3a49a9d8d92eed8251d82d6ebcafa8cba x_refsource_MISC
https://github.com/HKUDS/LightRAG/releases/tag/v1.5.4 x_refsource_MISC