CVE-2026-73421
NextAuth.js: Configuration errors can cause existence-based auth checks to fail open (auth object populated with an error)
Record summary
CVE-2026-73421 has a selected CVSS score of 9.1 (critical).
Description
NextAuth.js provides authentication for Next.js. From next-auth 5.0.0-beta.0 until 5.0.0-beta.32, applications that gate access by checking only for the existence of the auth object returned by the auth() wrapper can fail open when Auth.js has a server configuration error. In middleware, Route Handlers, React Server Components, and other auth() entry points, a non-OK session response is parsed into a truthy error object instead of null, so checks such as !!auth and if (req.auth) evaluate to true for unauthenticated requests. A provider missing both the issuer and authorization endpoint triggers InvalidEndpoints, and an unset AUTH_SECRET or another server configuration error can produce the same behavior. There is no impact while configuration is valid, but after a deployment becomes misconfigured, routes protected only by session existence silently grant access to every visitor. This issue is fixed in next-auth 5.0.0-beta.32.
Affected products and versions
2| Product | Source | Version range | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
next-authBrowse nextauthjs / next-auth | CVE List | >= 5.0.0-beta.4, < 5.0.0-beta.32 | affected |
next-authBrowse npm / next-auth | GitHub Advisory | 5.0.0-beta.0 to < 5.0.0-beta.32 · Fixed in 5.0.0-beta.32 | affected |