caddy: Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity
CVE-2026-27587 is a critical-severity improper handling of case sensitivity vulnerability in caddy from Caddyserver, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.1 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected caddy versions: < 2.11.1. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.43% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.
What to do
- Check which version of caddy you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
- Read the advisory on github.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
- Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caddyserver | caddy | < 2.11.1 | Not stated |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- NoneAvailability is not affected.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N. Scored by NVD.
| Scoring system | Score | Severity | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 4.0 | 7.7 | High | CNA (github.com) |
| CVSS 3.1 | 9.1 | Critical | NVD |
Official description
Caddy is an extensible server platform that uses TLS by default. Prior to version 2.11.1, Caddy's HTTP `path` request matcher is intended to be case-insensitive, but when the match pattern contains percent-escape sequences (`%xx`) it compares against the request's escaped path without lowercasing. An attacker can bypass path-based routing and any access controls attached to that route by changing the casing of the request path. Version 2.11.1 contains a fix for the issue.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity
The product does not properly account for differences in case sensitivity when accessing or determining the properties of a resource, leading to inconsistent results.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Avoid making decisions based on names of resources (e.g. files) if those resources can have alternate names.
- Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174). Such errors could be used to bypass allowlist validation schemes by introducing dangerous inputs after they have been checked.
More Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity vulnerabilities (CWE-178)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: poc, automatable: yes, technical impact: partial).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Advisories
Patches and release notes
- github.com/caddyserver/caddy/releases/tag/v2.11.1Release Notes
Other vulnerabilities in caddy
- 8.1 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.1 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
Recent Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity vulnerabilities
- 9.1 Critical severity
- 8.7 High severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 7.3 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.1 High severity
Spotted an error? Tell us.