Privilege escalation via retained client identity headers
Published Mar 7, 2026 · Updated Mar 7, 2026
Improper authentication in Caddy 2.10.0 through 2.11.1 allows remote authenticated users to inject trusted identity headers. The forward_auth copy_headers route conditionally sets a header only when the authentication service returns it, but never deletes the same client-supplied header. A valid low-privilege token and a deployment whose authentication service omits a configured identity header are required; the backend then accepts attacker-chosen identity or role values, enabling privilege escalation.
Summary
What happened
Improper authentication in Caddy 2.10.0 through 2.11.1 allows remote authenticated users to inject trusted identity headers. The forward_auth copy_headers route conditionally sets a header only when the authentication service returns it, but never deletes the same client-supplied header. A valid low-privilege token and a deployment whose authentication service omits a configured identity header are required; the backend then accepts attacker-chosen identity or role values, enabling privilege escalation.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-30851
- Published
- Mar 7, 2026
- Updated
- Mar 7, 2026
- Vendor
- Caddy
- Product
- Caddy
- Classifications
- CWE-287, CWE-345, T1190
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 7, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Mar 7, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=>= 2.10.0, < 2.11.2
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- GHSA-7r4p-vjf4-gxv4 minimal reproductionproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo