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Incorrect default permissions in the nextflow auth login command

Moderate
arnaualcazar published GHSA-92qf-fcph-v5wr Jun 8, 2026

Software

nextflow

Affected versions

>= 25.09.2-edge, < 25.10.6
>= 25.11.0-edge, < 26.04.3

Patched versions

25.10.6
26.04.3

Description

Impact

nextflow auth login persists Seqera Platform OIDC tokens to ${NXF_HOME:-~/.nextflow}/seqera-auth.config. The file is created via Java NIO without specifying file permissions, so under the default umask 022 it lands at mode 0644 (world-readable).

On a multi-user POSIX host — typically an HPC login node, shared workstation, or jump host — any local user able to traverse the victim's home directory can read the file and obtain a valid Platform bearer token, enabling impersonation against Seqera Platform within the token's scope.

Single-user systems and headless CI runners, which do not invoke the interactive login flow, are not affected.

Affected versions: 25.09.2-edge through 26.04.2.

Patches

Fixed in 26.04.3 (current stable line) and 25.10.6 (25.10.x stable line). The patched code applies mode 0600 to seqera-auth.config immediately after writing it, and re-applies on every subsequent login so any pre-existing world-readable copy left by an earlier version is tightened.

Tokens previously stored in the file must be treated as disclosed. After upgrading, run nextflow auth logout, revoke the token in the Seqera Platform UI, and run nextflow auth login again.

Workarounds

Restrict the file and its parent directory:

chmod 600 "${NXF_HOME:-$HOME/.nextflow}/seqera-auth.config"
chmod 700 "${NXF_HOME:-$HOME/.nextflow}"

Alternatively, supply the Platform token via the TOWER_ACCESS_TOKEN environment variable instead of running nextflow auth login.

References

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CVE ID

CVE-2026-48722

Weaknesses

Incorrect Default Permissions

During installation, installed file permissions are set to allow anyone to modify those files. Learn more on MITRE.

Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource

The product specifies permissions for a security-critical resource in a way that allows that resource to be read or modified by unintended actors. Learn more on MITRE.