GitHub Advisoryadvisory · Go

GHSA-4mq7-pvjg-xp2r Ory Oathkeeper has an authentication bypass by cache key confusion

HIGH Published 2026-03-20 Modified 2026-03-27 Official page ↗
Aliases
CVE-2026-33496
Ecosystem
Go
Packages
github.com/ory/oathkeeper
Severity
High
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Weaknesses
CWE-1289, CWE-305
Reviewed
2026-03-20

Affected packages

• Go github.com/ory/oathkeeper: < 0.40.10-0.20260320084801-198a2bc82a99 → fixed in 0.40.10-0.20260320084801-198a2bc82a99

Description

Description Ory Oathkeeper is vulnerable to authentication bypass due to cache key confusion. The `oauth2_introspection` authenticator cache does not distinguish tokens that were validated with different introspection URLs. An attacker can therefore legitimately use a token to prime the cache, and subsequently use the same token for rules that use a different introspection server. Preconditions Ory Oathkeeper has to be configured with multiple `oauth2_introspection` authenticator servers, each accepting different tokens. The authenticators also must be configured to use caching. An attacker has to have a way to gain a valid token for one of the configured introspection servers. Mitigation Ory Oathkeeper now includes the introspection server URL in the cache key, preventing confusion of tokens. Update to the patched version of Ory Oathkeeper. If that is not immediately possible, disable caching for `oauth2_introspection` authenticators.

Related

Alias · CVE (1)

  • CVE-2026-33496 ORY Oathkeeper is an Identity & Access Proxy (IAP) and Access Control Decision API that authorizes HTTP requests based on sets of Access… vulnerability

Weakness · CWE (2)

  • CWE-1289 Improper Validation of Unsafe Equivalence in Input weakness
  • CWE-305 Authentication Bypass by Primary Weakness weakness

References