From 4755a1815e2d84252ade0e1c27f2ffc937912534 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: bcmmbaga <bethuelmbaga12@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2026 19:25:21 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] skip JWT group checks for local Dex user

---
 management/server/auth/manager.go      |  6 +++-
 management/server/auth/manager_test.go | 38 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 43 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/management/server/auth/manager.go b/management/server/auth/manager.go
index 27346a604..9498789f2 100644
--- a/management/server/auth/manager.go
+++ b/management/server/auth/manager.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/shared/auth"
 
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/base62"
+	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/idp/dex"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/management/server/store"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/management/server/types"
 	nbjwt "github.com/netbirdio/netbird/shared/auth/jwt"
@@ -74,7 +75,10 @@ func (m *manager) ValidateAndParseToken(ctx context.Context, value string) (auth
 }
 
 func (m *manager) EnsureUserAccessByJWTGroups(ctx context.Context, userAuth auth.UserAuth, token *jwt.Token) (auth.UserAuth, error) {
-	if userAuth.IsChild || userAuth.IsPAT {
+	// Child accounts and PAT-authenticated requests do not use JWT group access checks.
+	// Embedded-Dex local users also skip them because local password authentication
+	// does not provide external IdP group claims.
+	if userAuth.IsChild || userAuth.IsPAT || dex.IsLocalUserID(userAuth.UserId) {
 		return userAuth, nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/management/server/auth/manager_test.go b/management/server/auth/manager_test.go
index 469737f47..af8a30ef1 100644
--- a/management/server/auth/manager_test.go
+++ b/management/server/auth/manager_test.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 
+	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/idp/dex"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/management/server/auth"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/management/server/store"
 	"github.com/netbirdio/netbird/management/server/types"
@@ -206,6 +207,43 @@ func TestAuthManager_EnsureUserAccessByJWTGroups(t *testing.T) {
 		_, err = manager.EnsureUserAccessByJWTGroups(context.Background(), userAuth, token)
 		require.Error(t, err, "ensure user access is not in allowed groups")
 	})
+
+	t.Run("Local embedded-Dex user is exempt from JWT allow-groups", func(t *testing.T) {
+		account.Settings.JWTGroupsEnabled = true
+		account.Settings.JWTGroupsClaimName = "idp-groups"
+		account.Settings.JWTAllowGroups = []string{"not-a-group"}
+		err := store.SaveAccount(context.Background(), account)
+		require.NoError(t, err, "save account failed")
+
+		// Local Dex users have a "local" connector encoded in their user ID.
+		localUserAuth := nbauth.UserAuth{
+			AccountId: account.Id,
+			Domain:    domain,
+			UserId:    dex.EncodeDexUserID("local-owner", "local"),
+		}
+
+		localUserAuth, err = manager.EnsureUserAccessByJWTGroups(context.Background(), localUserAuth, token)
+		require.NoError(t, err, "local user must not be locked out by JWT allow-groups (issue #5337)")
+		require.Len(t, localUserAuth.Groups, 0, "JWT groups must not be evaluated for local users")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("Federated embedded-Dex user is still subject to JWT allow-groups", func(t *testing.T) {
+		account.Settings.JWTGroupsEnabled = true
+		account.Settings.JWTGroupsClaimName = "idp-groups"
+		account.Settings.JWTAllowGroups = []string{"not-a-group"}
+		err := store.SaveAccount(context.Background(), account)
+		require.NoError(t, err, "save account failed")
+
+		// A federated user (non-"local" connector) must remain restricted.
+		fedUserAuth := nbauth.UserAuth{
+			AccountId: account.Id,
+			Domain:    domain,
+			UserId:    dex.EncodeDexUserID("entra-user", "entra"),
+		}
+
+		_, err = manager.EnsureUserAccessByJWTGroups(context.Background(), fedUserAuth, token)
+		require.Error(t, err, "federated user must still be restricted by JWT allow-groups")
+	})
 }
 
 func TestAuthManager_ValidateAndParseToken(t *testing.T) {