CVE-2026-53516: Better Auth has an account takeover issue via OAuth auto-link to unverified pre-registered email
(updated )
The OAuth callback’s auto-link gate in handleOAuthUserInfo admits an implicit account link whenever the provider asserts email_verified: true, without requiring the local user row’s emailVerified to also be true. An attacker who pre-registers a victim’s email through /sign-up/email (which writes a row with emailVerified: false) can have the victim’s later OAuth identity bound to the attacker’s user row, granting both a password login and the victim’s OAuth identity on the same account. This is the pre-account-hijacking class — the same shape as Microsoft “nOAuth” (2023) and the Sign in with Apple JWT flaw (2020).
References
- github.com/advisories/GHSA-g38m-r43w-p2q7
- github.com/better-auth/better-auth/commit/da7e50beee849c59a2ed1ec6b3a38cc6ab9fb563
- github.com/better-auth/better-auth/pull/9578
- github.com/better-auth/better-auth/releases/tag/v1.6.11
- github.com/better-auth/better-auth/security/advisories/GHSA-g38m-r43w-p2q7
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53516
Code Behaviors & Features
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