GitHub Advisoryadvisory · NuGet
GHSA-5mq7-rwhj-4fh9 Steeltoe: Header-forwarded client cert lacks proof of private-key possession
MEDIUM
Official page ↗
- Aliases
- CVE-2026-81868
- Ecosystem
- NuGet
- Packages
- Steeltoe.Security.Authorization.Certificate
- Severity
- Moderate
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N
- Weaknesses
- CWE-288, CWE-295
- Reviewed
- 2026-09-17
Affected packages
• NuGet Steeltoe.Security.Authorization.Certificate: < 4.3.0 → fixed in 4.3.0
Description
Summary
When Steeltoe's certificate-based authorization (`UseCertificateAuthorization`) is configured, the default configuration of the middleware relies on the `X-Client-Cert` HTTP header to identify the client certificate, without verifying private-key possession. This header is not stripped by common Cloud Foundry routers (like Gorouter or Envoy) on inbound requests.
Impact
An attacker who obtains the public certificate of an application instance in the target organization or space can spoof the `X-Client-Cert` header. This allows the attacker to bypass `SameOrg` and `SameSpace` authorization policies, granting unauthorized access to protected endpoints for the duration of the certificate's validity period.
Affected configuration
• The application uses `AddOrgAndSpacePolicies()` and `UseCertificateAuthorization()` for inter-service authorization.
• Inbound requests are not restricted to a known trusted proxy source IP.
• The application's endpoints are network-accessible to the attacker (e.g., exposed to the internet via a public Cloud Foundry route, or the attacker has access to the internal Cloud Foundry network).
Mitigations
If an immediate upgrade to a patched version is not possible:
• Restrict `UseCertificateForwarding` to trusted proxy source IPs using `ForwardedHeadersOptions.KnownProxies` and `KnownNetworks`.
• Change the forwarding header to `X-Forwarded-Client-Cert` so that Cloud Foundry Gorouter and Envoy header stripping mechanisms apply to inbound untrusted requests.
• Add a secondary authorization layer (e.g., a shared secret or mutual TLS at the proxy layer) for sensitive endpoints.
• Ensure the application is not bound to a public route unless explicitly required. Use Cloud Foundry internal routes (e.g., `.apps.internal`) and container-to-container network policies to strictly limit network access to intended internal clients.
Related
Alias · CVE (1)
- CVE-2026-81868 Steeltoe is an open source project that provides a collection of libraries that helps users build cloud-native applications. vulnerability
References
- https://github.com/SteeltoeOSS/security-advisories/security/advisories/GHSA-5mq7-rwhj-4fh9 web
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-81868 advisory
- https://github.com/SteeltoeOSS/Steeltoe/commit/b626ef3d60aaf19c68eeeed5ee81045406c8c6d0 web
- https://github.com/SteeltoeOSS/Steeltoe/releases/tag/4.3.0 web
- https://github.com/SteeltoeOSS/security-advisories package