# CVE-2026-78885: liketrek TREK OIDC authentication bypass

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-78885-liketrek-trek-oidc-authentication-bypass  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-08-25. Updated: 2026-09-25  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-78885 · Severity: medium · CVSS 5.6 · Published 2026-08-25

TREK is a self-hosted expense and trip-tracking application. The OIDC (single sign-on) login function fails to verify email addresses, allowing an attacker with access to a permissive identity provider to claim an existing user's email address and hijack their account permanently.

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-78885 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-78885 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-78885?** Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 5.6, published 25 August 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** liketrek TREK up to 3.0.22.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-78885?** No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.

**How is CVE-2026-78885 attacked?** It is attacked over the network.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-78885?** Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## Technical details

The vulnerability exists in the findOrCreateUser function of server/src/services/oidcService.ts. When an OIDC identity provider logs in a user, the function matches incoming SSO identities to existing local accounts by comparing email addresses (case-insensitive) without verifying the email_verified claim from the provider. An attacker using an identity provider that does not enforce email verification can set their profile email to match a victim's email address; when they log in via OIDC, their identity is auto-linked to the victim's account, granting persistent account access. The attack requires network access and a permissive identity provider (high attack complexity). The fix, deployed in version 3.1.0, requires email_verified to be true before auto-linking to an existing account; otherwise login is rejected with an oidc_error.

## Affected products

- liketrek TREK up to 3.0.22

## Timeline

- 2026-06-16: disclosed: Fixed in v3.1.0 release
- 2026-06-16: advisory: GHSA-fvgw-r58q-4cw4 published

## References

- [https://github.com/liketrek/TREK/releases/tag/v3.1.0](https://github.com/liketrek/TREK/releases/tag/v3.1.0)
- [https://github.com/mauriceboe/TREK/security/advisories/GHSA-fvgw-r58q-4cw4](https://github.com/mauriceboe/TREK/security/advisories/GHSA-fvgw-r58q-4cw4)