GitHub Advisoryadvisory · Go
GHSA-g5vh-55hw-rxm8 GoFiber Vulnerable to Username Enumeration via Timing Oracle in BasicAuth Default Authorizer
MEDIUM
Official page ↗
- Aliases
- CVE-2026-44332
- Ecosystem
- Go
- Packages
- github.com/gofiber/fiber/v3
- Severity
- Moderate
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
- Weaknesses
- CWE-203
- Reviewed
- 2026-07-02
Affected packages
• Go github.com/gofiber/fiber/v3: < 3.3.0 → fixed in 3.3.0
Description
Summary
The default `Authorizer` function in GoFiber's BasicAuth middleware uses short-circuit evaluation that skips password hash comparison for non-existent usernames. With bcrypt-hashed passwords (the primary use case), the timing difference between a valid and invalid username is approximately 1,000,000:1 (~100ms vs ~100ns), enabling reliable remote username enumeration.
Vulnerable Code
File: `middleware/basicauth/config.go`, lines 126-138
```go
if cfg.Authorizer == nil {
verifiers := make(map[string]func(string) bool, len(cfg.Users))
for u, hpw := range cfg.Users {
v, err := parseHashedPassword(hpw)
if err != nil {
panic(err)
}
verifiers[u] = v
}
cfg.Authorizer = func(user, pass string, _ fiber.Ctx) bool {
verify, ok := verifiers[user]
return ok && verify(pass) // line 137: short-circuit skips verify() if user unknown
}
}
```
Data Flow
1. Attacker sends `Authorization: Basic `
2. BasicAuth middleware decodes credentials and calls `cfg.Authorizer(user, pass, c)`
3. Map lookup `verifiers[user]` returns `ok=false` for non-existent users
4. Go `&&` short-circuit: `false && verify(pass)` returns immediately without calling `verify()`
5. For valid users, `verify(pass)` executes `bcrypt.CompareHashAndPassword()` (line 167: ~100ms at default cost 10)
6. Timing difference: ~100ns (invalid user) vs ~100ms (valid user) = 1,000,000:1 ratio
Timing comparison by hash type:
| Hash Type | Valid User | Invalid User | Ratio |
|-----------|-----------|--------------|-------|
| bcrypt ($2) | ~100 ms | ~100 ns | 1,000,000:1 |
| SHA-512 | ~1-5 us | ~100 ns | 10-50:1 |
| SHA-256 | ~1-5 us | ~100 ns | 10-50:1 |
Impact
• Username enumeration: Attacker reliably determines which usernames exist by measuring response latency
• Targeted brute force: After enumerating valid usernames, password brute force is focused only on real accounts
• Account discovery: In applications where usernames are sensitive (internal tools, admin panels), leaking their existence is itself a security issue
Notes
• Password hash comparisons themselves are timing-safe: `subtle.ConstantTimeCompare` is used correctly for SHA-256 (line 185), SHA-512 (line 176), and bcrypt uses its own constant-time comparison
• The fix is to always execute a dummy hash comparison for unknown users: `bcrypt.CompareHashAndPassword(dummyHash, []byte(pass))` and discard the result
• This pattern matches CVE-2023-36456 (Authentik timing oracle) and similar findings in other auth libraries
Related
Alias · CVE (1)
- CVE-2026-44332 Fiber is an Express inspired web framework written in Go. vulnerability
Weakness · CWE (1)
- CWE-203 Observable Discrepancy weakness