Denial of Service in Cleverange Auth via Account Verification

Executive Summary

CVE-2026-51788 is a Denial of Service (DoS) vulnerability in cleverange_auth v0.1.10. It occurs when the account_verification function in accounts/models.py automatically generates verification records and sends emails upon new user creation. Without protections like rate limiting, attackers can exploit this by repeatedly creating accounts, causing excessive resource consumption.

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Detection Guidance

Monitor for unusual spikes in email traffic, database writes, or CPU usage. Check for repeated account creation attempts without valid email verification. Inspect SMTP logs for excessive outgoing emails from your application.

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Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can lead to SMTP email flooding, increased CPU and database usage, storage consumption, higher email service costs, and degraded application performance. It may cause a DoS for legitimate users by overwhelming system resources.

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Compliance Impact

This DoS vulnerability could lead to non-compliance with GDPR and HIPAA due to excessive data processing and storage from unauthorized account creation. GDPR requires data minimization and security, while HIPAA mandates protection of health-related data. Uncontrolled account generation may violate these by consuming resources and exposing systems to breaches.

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Mitigation Strategies

• Implement rate limiting on registration endpoints to prevent rapid account creation.
• Add CAPTCHA or similar challenges to registration forms to block automated attacks.
• Enable asynchronous email delivery to reduce immediate resource consumption.
• Set up monitoring for unusual registration patterns or resource spikes.
• Consider disabling automatic email verification until safeguards are in place.

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