{"id":"PYSEC-2026-3894","summary":"PraisonAI: [Auth Bypass] `praisonai serve agents --api-key` is silently ignored — agent-invocation routes (`POST /agents`, `POST /agents/{agent_name}`) run unauthenticated","details":"### Summary\n`praisonai serve agents` exposes HTTP routes that invoke registered agents. The CLI advertises `--api-key` with help text \"API key for authentication\", parses it, and forwards it into `ServeHandler`. But `_create_agents_app()` **never reads `config[\"api_key\"]` again** and installs no auth dependency or middleware on its direct routes. The configured key is a no-op flag.\n \nAs a result, an unauthenticated network caller can invoke exposed agents (`POST /agents` and `POST /agents/{agent_name}`) even when the operator passed `--api-key`. Requests with no credentials, a wrong `Authorization: Bearer`, a wrong `X-API-Key`, or an empty bearer all reach `agent.start()`.\n \nThe failure is made sharper by the fact that a **working auth dependency already exists in the same module** — `praisonai.api.agent_invoke.verify_token` guards every `/api/v1/...` route with `Depends(verify_token)` and is mounted into the very same app. The direct n8n-compat routes simply do not use it.\n\n## Technical Detail\n \n### Source-to-sink trace\n \n**1. CLI advertises and forwards `--api-key`:**\n \n```python\n# cli/commands/serve.py\n@app.command(\"agents\")\ndef serve_agents(..., api_key: Optional[str] = typer.Option(None, \"--api-key\", help=\"API key for authentication\")):\n    ...\n    if api_key:\n        args.extend([\"--api-key\", api_key])\n    exit_code = handle_serve_command(args)\n```\n \n**2. `cmd_agents()` parses `api_key` into the spec — and that is the last time it is touched:**\n \n```python\n# cli/features/serve.py — cmd_agents()\nspec = { ..., \"api_key\": {\"default\": None} }\nparsed = self._parse_args(args, spec)\napp = self._create_agents_app(parsed)\n```\n \nA grep of the entire `cli/features/serve.py` for `api_key` returns **only** the two `spec` entries (`cmd_agents` line ~199 and `cmd_unified` line ~847). `config[\"api_key\"]` is never read inside `_create_agents_app()` / `_create_unified_app()`; it is never compared, and no dependency is attached.\n \n**3. `_create_agents_app()` imports `FastAPI, HTTPException, Request` — no `Depends`, no `Header`, no auth middleware.** Every `HTTPException` raised in the agents routes is `400`/`404`/`500` (validation / not-found / execution error); none is `401`.\n \n**4. Sink — unauthenticated request reaches `agent.start()`:**\n \n```python\n# cli/features/serve.py\n@app.post(\"/agents/{agent_name}\")          # n8n compatibility route\nasync def invoke_single_agent(agent_name: str, request: Request):\n    body = await request.json()\n    query = body.get(\"query\", \"\") or body.get(\"message\", \"\")\n    ...\n    agent = agent_invoke.get_agent(agent_name)\n    result = await loop.run_in_executor(None, agent.start, query)   # no auth anywhere above\n    return {\"response\": str(result)}\n \n@app.post(path)                            # default path \"/agents\"\nasync def invoke_agents(request: Request, query_data: AgentQuery = None):\n    ... agent.start(query) ...\n```\n\n### The auth dependency exists — it just isn't applied here\n \n`_create_agents_app()` mounts the `agent_invoke` router into the same app:\n \n```python\n# cli/features/serve.py\nif getattr(agent_invoke, 'FASTAPI_AVAILABLE', False) and hasattr(agent_invoke, 'router'):\n    app.include_router(agent_invoke.router)\n```\n \nThat router properly authenticates every sensitive route:\n \n```python\n# api/agent_invoke.py\nCALL_SERVER_TOKEN = os.getenv('CALL_SERVER_TOKEN')\nasync def verify_token(request, authorization=Header(None)) -\u003e None:\n    ...\n    if token != CALL_SERVER_TOKEN:\n        raise HTTPException(status_code=401, detail=\"Unauthorized\")\n \n@router.get(\"/api/v1/agents\")\nasync def list_agents(_: None = Depends(verify_token)): ...   # and register/unregister/info all use it\n```\n \nSo in the same process `GET /api/v1/agents` returns `401` without a token, while `POST /agents/{agent_name}` returns `200`. Note also that `verify_token` reads the `CALL_SERVER_TOKEN` env var — **not** the CLI `--api-key` — so the CLI option feeds no auth path at all.\n \n### Trigger conditions\n \n```\npraisonai serve agents --file agents.yaml --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8765 --api-key expected-secret\nPOST /agents/{agent_name}   body {\"query\":\"...\"}   with no / wrong / empty credentials\n```\n \n## Proof of Concept\n \nBuilt the **real** `_create_agents_app()` and exercised it over HTTP via FastAPI `TestClient`. Only `praisonaiagents.Agent` is stubbed (`.start()` returns `EXEC:\u003cquery\u003e`), so no real LLM/credentials. `CALL_SERVER_TOKEN=expected-secret` was set so the sibling `/api/v1` router is genuinely armed — making the contrast explicit.\n \n```\nOperator started with: --api-key expected-secret  (CALL_SERVER_TOKEN also set)\n \n== Sibling /api/v1 route WITH Depends(verify_token) ==\n  GET /api/v1/agents [no creds    ] -\u003e HTTP 401\n  GET /api/v1/agents [wrong bearer] -\u003e HTTP 401\n \n== Direct agent-invocation route (the bug) ==\n  POST /agents/owned [no creds      ] -\u003e HTTP 200  {'response': 'EXEC:hello'}\n  POST /agents/owned [wrong bearer  ] -\u003e HTTP 200  {'response': 'EXEC:hello'}\n  POST /agents/owned [wrong x-api-key] -\u003e HTTP 200  {'response': 'EXEC:hello'}\n  POST /agents/owned [empty bearer  ] -\u003e HTTP 200  {'response': 'EXEC:hello'}\n  POST /agents       [no creds      ] -\u003e HTTP 200  {'response': 'EXEC:hi'}\n```\n \nThe auth mechanism works for `/api/v1` (401) and is entirely absent on the direct `/agents` routes (200), despite `--api-key` being configured.\n \n### Equivalent HTTP trigger in a fully installed environment\n \n```bash\npraisonai serve agents --file agents.yaml --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8765 --api-key expected-secret\ncurl -sS -X POST http://TARGET:8765/agents/owned \\\n  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' --data-binary '{\"query\":\"hello\"}'\n# -\u003e 200 {\"response\":\"...\"}  (expected: 401 Unauthorized)\n```\n\n## Impact\n \n- **Direct primitive**: unauthenticated agent invocation despite a configured API key.\n- **Misleading control (aggravating)**: because the CLI advertises `--api-key` as authentication, operators may deliberately expose the service (e.g. `--host 0.0.0.0`, reverse proxy, n8n integration) believing it is protected, increasing the real-world likelihood of exposure.\n- **Downstream**: exposed agents commonly hold LLM provider credentials, RAG/memory, browser/search, MCP, or shell/file tools; the bypass lets an attacker drive those capabilities. Baseline impact is unauthorized LLM cost + access to agent responses.\n\n## Suggested Mitigation\n \n- When `config[\"api_key\"]` is set, build a shared auth dependency and attach it to every agent-invocation / state-changing route in `_create_agents_app()` and `_create_unified_app()` (`dependencies=[Depends(verify)]`).\n- Reuse / unify with the existing `verify_token` so the direct `/agents` routes and the `/api/v1` routes share one mechanism, and wire the CLI `--api-key` into that mechanism (today it feeds nothing; `verify_token` reads `CALL_SERVER_TOKEN`).\n- Use constant-time comparison (`hmac.compare_digest`); `verify_token` currently uses `!=`.\n- Update discovery metadata from `auth_modes=[\"none\"]` to `[\"api-key\",\"bearer\"]` for protected endpoints.\n- Regression tests next to `tests/unit/test_serve_unified.py`: `_create_agents_app({\"api_key\":\"secret\",...})` → `POST /agents/{name}` with no creds / wrong `Authorization` / wrong `X-API-Key` returns `401`; correct key succeeds.\n```python\nimport hmac\nfrom fastapi import Header, HTTPException, Depends\n \ndef _auth_dependency(expected_key: str):\n    async def verify(authorization: str | None = Header(None),\n                     x_api_key: str | None = Header(None, alias=\"X-API-Key\")):\n        token = x_api_key\n        if authorization and authorization.startswith(\"Bearer \"):\n            token = authorization[7:]\n        if not token or not hmac.compare_digest(token, expected_key):\n            raise HTTPException(status_code=401, detail=\"Unauthorized\")\n    return Depends(verify)\n```","aliases":["CVE-2026-55538","GHSA-r7v3-x45f-g7hp"],"modified":"2026-09-10T12:15:09.354387171Z","published":"2026-09-10T09:44:54.647664Z","references":[{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/MervinPraison/PraisonAI/security/advisories/GHSA-r7v3-x45f-g7hp"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/MervinPraison/PraisonAI/commit/2f9677abb2ea68eab864ee8b6a828fd0141612e1"},{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://github.com/MervinPraison/PraisonAI"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/MervinPraison/PraisonAI/releases/tag/v4.6.58"},{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://pypi.org/project/praisonai"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-r7v3-x45f-g7hp"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-55538"}],"affected":[{"package":{"name":"praisonai","ecosystem":"PyPI","purl":"pkg:pypi/praisonai"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"4.6.58"}]}],"versions":["0.0.1","0.0.10","0.0.11","0.0.12","0.0.13","0.0.14","0.0.15","0.0.16","0.0.17","0.0.18","0.0.19","0.0.2","0.0.20","0.0.21","0.0.22","0.0.23","0.0.24","0.0.25","0.0.26","0.0.27","0.0.28","0.0.29","0.0.3","0.0.30","0.0.31","0.0.32","0.0.33","0.0.34","0.0.35","0.0.36","0.0.37","0.0.38","0.0.39","0.0.4","0.0.40","0.0.41","0.0.42","0.0.43","0.0.44","0.0.45","0.0.46","0.0.47","0.0.48","0.0.49","0.0.5","0.0.50","0.0.52","0.0.53","0.0.54","0.0.55","0.0.56","0.0.57","0.0.58","0.0.59","0.0.59rc11","0.0.59rc2","0.0.59rc3","0.0.59rc5","0.0.59rc6","0.0.59rc7","0.0.59rc8","0.0.59rc9","0.0.6","0.0.61","0.0.64","0.0.65","0.0.66","0.0.67","0.0.68","0.0.69","0.0.7","0.0.70","0.0.71","0.0.72","0.0.73","0.0.74","0.0.8","0.0.9","0.1.0","0.1.1","0.1.10","0.1.2","0.1.3","0.1.4","0.1.5","0.1.6","0.1.7","0.1.8","0.1.9","1.0.0","1.0.1","1.0.10","1.0.11","1.0.2","1.0.3","1.0.4","1.0.5","1.0.6","1.0.8","1.0.9","2.0.0","2.0.1","2.0.10","2.0.11","2.0.12","2.0.13","2.0.14","2.0.15","2.0.16","2.0.17","2.0.18","2.0.19","2.0.2","2.0.20","2.0.22","2.0.23","2.0.24","2.0.25","2.0.26","2.0.27","2.0.28","2.0.29","2.0.3","2.0.30","2.0.31","2.0.32","2.0.33","2.0.34","2.0.35","2.0.36","2.0.37","2.0.38","2.0.39","2.0.40","2.0.41","2.0.42","2.0.43","2.0.44","2.0.45","2.0.46","2.0.47","2.0.48","2.0.49","2.0.5","2.0.50","2.0.51","2.0.53","2.0.54","2.0.55","2.0.56","2.0.57","2.0.58","2.0.59","2.0.6","2.0.60","2.0.61","2.0.62","2.0.63","2.0.64","2.0.65","2.0.66","2.0.67","2.0.68","2.0.69","2.0.7","2.0.70","2.0.71","2.0.72","2.0.73","2.0.74","2.0.75","2.0.76","2.0.77","2.0.78","2.0.79","2.0.8","2.0.80","2.0.81","2.0.9","2.1.0","2.1.1","2.1.4","2.1.5","2.1.6","2.2.1","2.2.10","2.2.11","2.2.12","2.2.13","2.2.14","2.2.15","2.2.16","2.2.17","2.2.18","2.2.19","2.2.2","2.2.20","2.2.21","2.2.22","2.2.24","2.2.25","2.2.26","2.2.27","2.2.28","2.2.29","2.2.3","2.2.30","2.2.31","2.2.32","2.2.33","2.2.34","2.2.35","2.2.36","2.2.37","2.2.38","2.2.39","2.2.4","2.2.40","2.2.41","2.2.42","2.2.43","2.2.44","2.2.45","2.2.46","2.2.47","2.2.48","2.2.49","2.2.5","2.2.50","2.2.51","2.2.52","2.2.53","2.2.54","2.2.55","2.2.56","2.2.57","2.2.58","2.2.59","2.2.6","2.2.60","2.2.61","2.2.62","2.2.63","2.2.64","2.2.65","2.2.66","2.2.67","2.2.68","2.2.69","2.2.7","2.2.70","2.2.71","2.2.72","2.2.73","2.2.74","2.2.75","2.2.76","2.2.77","2.2.78","2.2.79","2.2.8","2.2.80","2.2.81","2.2.82","2.2.83","2.2.84","2.2.86","2.2.87","2.2.88","2.2.89","2.2.9","2.2.90","2.2.91","2.2.93","2.2.95","2.2.96","2.2.97","2.2.98","2.2.99","2.3.0","2.3.1","2.3.10","2.3.11","2.3.12","2.3.13","2.3.14","2.3.15","2.3.16","2.3.18","2.3.19","2.3.2","2.3.20","2.3.21","2.3.22","2.3.23","2.3.24","2.3.25","2.3.26","2.3.27","2.3.28","2.3.29","2.3.3","2.3.30","2.3.31","2.3.32","2.3.33","2.3.34","2.3.35","2.3.36","2.3.37","2.3.38","2.3.39","2.3.4","2.3.40","2.3.41","2.3.42","2.3.43","2.3.44","2.3.45","2.3.46","2.3.47","2.3.48","2.3.49","2.3.5","2.3.50","2.3.51","2.3.52","2.3.53","2.3.54","2.3.55","2.3.56","2.3.57","2.3.58","2.3.59","2.3.6","2.3.60","2.3.61","2.3.62","2.3.63","2.3.64","2.3.65","2.3.66","2.3.67","2.3.68","2.3.69","2.3.7","2.3.70","2.3.71","2.3.72","2.3.73","2.3.74","2.3.75","2.3.76","2.3.77","2.3.78","2.3.79","2.3.8","2.3.80","2.3.81","2.3.82","2.3.83","2.3.84","2.3.85","2.3.86","2.3.87","2.3.9","2.4.0","2.4.1","2.4.2","2.4.3","2.4.4","2.5.0","2.5.1","2.5.2","2.5.3","2.5.4","2.5.5","2.5.6","2.5.7","2.6.0","2.6.1","2.6.2","2.6.3","2.6.4","2.6.5","2.6.6","2.6.7","2.6.8","2.7.0","2.8.3","2.8.4","2.8.5","2.8.6","2.8.7","2.8.8","2.8.9","2.9.0","2.9.1","2.9.2","3.0.0","3.0.1","3.0.2","3.0.3","3.0.4","3.0.5","3.0.6","3.0.7","3.0.8","3.0.9","3.1.0","3.1.1","3.1.2","3.1.3","3.1.4","3.1.5","3.1.6","3.1.7","3.1.8","3.1.9","3.10.0","3.10.1","3.10.10","3.10.11","3.10.12","3.10.13","3.10.14","3.10.15","3.10.16","3.10.17","3.10.18","3.10.19","3.10.2","3.10.20","3.10.21","3.10.22","3.10.23","3.10.24","3.10.25","3.10.26","3.10.27","3.10.3","3.10.4","3.10.5","3.10.6","3.10.7","3.10.8","3.10.9","3.11.0","3.11.1","3.11.10","3.11.11","3.11.12","3.11.13","3.11.14","3.11.2","3.11.3","3.11.4","3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