Heimdall: Case-sensitive handling of URL-encoded slashes may lead to inconsistent path interpretation

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No collected risk observation for these identifiers. This does not establish absence of exploitation or a zero probability.

Heimdall is a cloud native Identity Aware Proxy and Access Control Decision service. Prior to version 0.17.14, Heimdall handles URL-encoded slashes (%2F) in a case-sensitive manner, while percent-encoding is defined to be case-insensitive. As a result, the lowercase equivalent (%2f) is not recognized and therefore not processed as expected when allow_encoded_slashes is set to off (the default setting). This discrepancy can lead to differences in how request paths are interpreted by heimdall and upstream components, which may result in authorization bypass. This issue has been patched in version 0.17.14.

Source published

8 May 2026 03:40:17 UTC

Source modified

8 May 2026 23:12:35 UTC

Observed here

23 Oct 2026 15:48:27 UTC

Source terms

CVE Program Terms of Use

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This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: cve-program · CVE Program Terms of Use. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS 4.0 · 7.8 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:N

Heimdall is a cloud native Identity Aware Proxy and Access Control Decision service. Prior to version 0.17.14, Heimdall handles URL-encoded slashes (%2F) in a case-sensitive manner, while percent-encoding is defined to be case-insensitive. As a result, the lowercase equivalent (%2f) is not recognized and therefore not processed as expected when allow_encoded_slashes is set to off (the default setting). This discrepancy can lead to differences in how request paths are interpreted by heimdall and upstream components, which may result in authorization bypass. This issue has been patched in version 0.17.14.

Source published

May 8, 2026, 3:40:17 AM (timezone not stated)

Source modified

May 8, 2026, 11:12:35 PM (timezone not stated)

Observed here

1 Nov 2026 07:12:45 UTC

Source terms

ENISA EUVD · source terms and attribution apply

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This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: euvd · ENISA EUVD · source terms and attribution apply. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

EUVD CVSS 4.0 · 7.8 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:N

Heimdall is a cloud native Identity Aware Proxy and Access Control Decision service. Prior to version 0.17.14, Heimdall handles URL-encoded slashes (%2F) in a case-sensitive manner, while percent-encoding is defined to be case-insensitive. As a result, the lowercase equivalent (%2f) is not recognized and therefore not processed as expected when allow_encoded_slashes is set to off (the default setting). This discrepancy can lead to differences in how request paths are interpreted by heimdall and upstream components, which may result in authorization bypass. This issue has been patched in version 0.17.14.

Source published

8 May 2026 04:16:22 UTC

Source modified

26 Oct 2026 20:10:00 UTC

Observed here

27 Oct 2026 11:12:01 UTC

Source terms

NIST NVD usage terms; underlying source attribution retained

Original source record · Cite this exact observation · Complete original publisher JSON

This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: nvd · NIST NVD usage terms; underlying source attribution retained. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS 4.0 · [email protected] · Secondary · 7.8 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

### Summary Heimdall handles URL-encoded slashes (`%2F`) in a case-sensitive manner, while percent-encoding is defined to be case-insensitive. As a result, the lowercase equivalent (`%2f`) is not recognized and therefore not processed as expected when `allow_encoded_slashes` is set to `off` (the default setting). This discrepancy can lead to differences in how request paths are interpreted by heimdall and upstream components, which may result in authorization bypass. **Note:** The issue can only lead to unintended access if heimdall is configured with an "allow all" default rule. Since v0.16.0, heimdall enforces secure defaults and refuses to start with such a configuration unless this enforcement is explicitly disabled (e.g. via `--insecure-skip-secure-default-rule-enforcement` or the broader `--insecure` flag). ### Details Consider the following rule configuration: ```yaml id: rule-1 match: routes: - path: /admin/** execute: # configured to require authentication and authorization # ... ``` If an adversary sends a request such as `/admin%2fsecret`, neither is the above rule matched, nor is the request rejected (as would be expected when `allow_encoded_slashes` is set to `off`). Instead, the default rule (if configured) will be executed. If the configured default rule is overly permissive (e.g. allowing anonymous access), and the upstream service interprets `%2f` as a path separator, the request may ultimately be processed as `/admin/secret`. This results in the request being authorized based on a different path than the one processed by the upstream service, leading to authorization bypass. ### Impact Bypass of access control policies enforced by heimdall may lead to the following consequences: * Access to or modification of data that should be restricted * Invocation of functionality that is expected to require authentication or authorization * In certain configurations, escalation of privileges depending on the exposed functionality ### Workarounds * Developers should not use the `--insecure` or the `--insecure-skip-secure-default-rule-enforcement` flags and configure their default rule to implement "deny by default". * Reject HTTP paths containing encoded slashes in the layers in front of heimdall. Some proxies, like e.g., Traefik, do that by default. * Include the ID of the rule expected to be executed in the JWT issued by heimdall and verify that value in the project's service.

Source published

25 Apr 2026 23:29:40 UTC

Source modified

25 Jun 2026 18:56:31 UTC

Observed here

24 Oct 2026 13:19:41 UTC

Source terms

GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0

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This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: osv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS_V4 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:N

Publisher rating · HIGH

Heimdall: Case-sensitive handling of URL-encoded slashes may lead to inconsistent path interpretation in github.com/dadrus/heimdall

Source published

25 Jun 2026 18:26:48 UTC

Source modified

25 Jun 2026 18:45:20 UTC

Observed here

24 Oct 2026 13:19:41 UTC

Source terms

OSV · upstream source license applies

Original source record · Cite this exact observation · Complete original publisher JSON

This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: osv · OSV · upstream source license applies. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.