VU#645818: Xerj Console API Authentication Bypass Leads to Unauthorized Credential Minting

Publisher excerpt From CERT/CC Vulnerability Notes

Overview An authentication bypass vulnerability in the Xerj Console API allows sessions to bypass passkey-backed requirements during token issuance. By exploiting this flaw, an attacker with an existing valid token can create independent, persistent successor credentials directly through the console API. This allows the attacker to maintain access and potentially escalate privileges within the Xerj ecosystem, even if the initial token is revoked. Description Xerj is an open-source search and indexing engine tailored specifically for AI agents utilizing the Elasticsearch API, allowing AI models to query a structured index. The vulnerability, CVE-2026-97406, stems from a flaw in how session states are authenticated and handled within the Xerj system architecture. According to the documented security contract, the issuance of new API tokens must be strictly authorized by a passkey-backed session. However, the Xerj implementation converts both standard browser sessions and API bearer tokens into the same generic AuthSession object. The token creation handler then accepts this generalized principal without verifying whether the session was authenticated via a passkey. Because of this architectural oversight, an attacker who obtains or intercepts a valid Xerj API token can directly invoke the token creation endpoint, allowing them to create independent successor credentials with the same access levels of the original token. Furthermore, the Xerj platform lacks hierarchical r…

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