Improper authentication (CWE-287) in the OAuth token endpoint in Cloud Foundry UAA allows a remote, authenticated attacker holding a valid user access token to obtain a fully-privileged client_credentials token for the OAuth client that issued it, by presenting the user token as an OAuth 2.0 Bearer credential on a client_credentials grant request in place of the client’s configured secret.
UAA’s client_credentials handling does not verify that the Bearer credential supplied for client authentication is actually a client credential (a client secret or a valid configured client authentication method); it accepts any valid access token whose client_id matches the request. A token obtained by a normal end user through a public authorization_code + PKCE flow — scoped only to uaa.user, carrying a user_id, and recording client_auth_method=none — satisfies this check. That user token cannot itself administer OAuth clients (POST /oauth/clients correctly returns 403), but when replayed as Bearer authentication on a client_credentials request for the same client, UAA issues a new client-only token carrying the client’s full authorities, such as clients.write. An attacker can use that token to create arbitrary new OAuth clients, including clients with attacker-chosen authorities, without ever possessing the client’s actual secret.
Exploitation requires a valid user access token (the attacker’s own) for a client that is configured to support both a public, user-facing authorization flow and the client_credentials grant type on the same client_id — a non-default combination. Practical impact scales with the authorities assigned to that client.
UAA’s client_credentials handling does not verify that the Bearer credential supplied for client authentication is actually a client credential (a client secret or a valid configured client authentication method); it accepts any valid access token whose client_id matches the request. A token obtained by a normal end user through a public authorization_code + PKCE flow — scoped only to uaa.user, carrying a user_id, and recording client_auth_method=none — satisfies this check. That user token cannot itself administer OAuth clients (POST /oauth/clients correctly returns 403), but when replayed as Bearer authentication on a client_credentials request for the same client, UAA issues a new client-only token carrying the client’s full authorities, such as clients.write. An attacker can use that token to create arbitrary new OAuth clients, including clients with attacker-chosen authorities, without ever possessing the client’s actual secret.
Exploitation requires a valid user access token (the attacker’s own) for a client that is configured to support both a public, user-facing authorization flow and the client_credentials grant type on the same client_id — a non-default combination. Practical impact scales with the authorities assigned to that client.
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Tue, 06 Oct 2026 07:15:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Improper authentication (CWE-287) in the OAuth token endpoint in Cloud Foundry UAA allows a remote, authenticated attacker holding a valid user access token to obtain a fully-privileged client_credentials token for the OAuth client that issued it, by presenting the user token as an OAuth 2.0 Bearer credential on a client_credentials grant request in place of the client’s configured secret. UAA’s client_credentials handling does not verify that the Bearer credential supplied for client authentication is actually a client credential (a client secret or a valid configured client authentication method); it accepts any valid access token whose client_id matches the request. A token obtained by a normal end user through a public authorization_code + PKCE flow — scoped only to uaa.user, carrying a user_id, and recording client_auth_method=none — satisfies this check. That user token cannot itself administer OAuth clients (POST /oauth/clients correctly returns 403), but when replayed as Bearer authentication on a client_credentials request for the same client, UAA issues a new client-only token carrying the client’s full authorities, such as clients.write. An attacker can use that token to create arbitrary new OAuth clients, including clients with attacker-chosen authorities, without ever possessing the client’s actual secret. Exploitation requires a valid user access token (the attacker’s own) for a client that is configured to support both a public, user-facing authorization flow and the client_credentials grant type on the same client_id — a non-default combination. Practical impact scales with the authorities assigned to that client. | |
| Title | UAA OAuth Token Endpoint Vulnerability allows user access token reuse for client_credentials grant type | |
| Weaknesses | CWE-287 | |
| References |
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| Metrics |
cvssV4_0
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Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: vmware
Published:
Updated: 2026-10-06T06:54:10.861Z
Reserved: 2026-07-04T18:14:46.172Z
Link: CVE-2026-59358
No data.
Status : Received
Published: 2026-10-06T07:16:59.460
Modified: 2026-10-06T07:16:59.460
Link: CVE-2026-59358
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
Updated: 2026-10-06T08:30:18Z
Weaknesses