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Authorization header forwarded across cross-origin redirects in SimpleAsyncHTTPClient

High
bdarnell published GHSA-3x9g-8vmp-wqvf May 27, 2026

Package

pip tornado (pip)

Affected versions

<6.5.6

Patched versions

6.5.6

Description

Summary

When SimpleAsyncHTTPClient follows a 3xx redirect, it shallow-copies the original HTTPRequest, rewrites the URL, decrements max_redirects, and removes only the Host header. It does not clear Authorization, auth_username, auth_password, or auth_mode when the redirect target changes origin.

As a result, credentials intended for one origin can be forwarded to a different origin when follow_redirects=True, which is the default.

Beginning in Tornado 6.5.6, SimpleAsyncHTTPClient matches the default behavior of libcurl (and therefore CurlAsyncHTTPClient): When a redirect changes the scheme, host, or port of the url, the Authorization and Cookie headers will be removed when following the redirect.

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N

CVE ID

CVE-2026-49853

Weaknesses

No CWEs

Credits