skipper: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests
CVE-2026-50197 is a high-severity inconsistent interpretation of HTTP requests vulnerability in skipper from Zalando, with a CVSS 4.0 base score of 7.8 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected skipper versions: < 0.26.10. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.51% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Check which version of skipper 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
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.
- Attack requirements
- NoneThe attack does not depend on a particular deployment or configuration.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
- NoneNo loss of confidentiality on the vulnerable system.
- Integrity (vulnerable system)
- NoneNo loss of integrity on the vulnerable system.
- Availability (vulnerable system)
- NoneNo loss of availability on the vulnerable system.
- Confidentiality (other systems)
- HighSerious loss of confidentiality on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
- Integrity (other systems)
- HighSerious loss of integrity on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
- Availability (other systems)
- NoneNo loss of availability on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
Vector: 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. Scored by CNA (github.com).
Official description
Skipper is an HTTP router and reverse proxy for service composition. Prior to 0.26.10, zalando/skipper's OpenPolicyAgent integration silently bypasses request-body inspection on HTTP/1.1 Transfer-Encoding: chunked and HTTP/2 requests that omit the content-length pseudo-header, because the opaAuthorizeRequestWithBody filter and OpenPolicyAgentInstance.ExtractHttpBodyOptionally in filters/openpolicyagent/openpolicyagent.go produce an empty raw_body and input.parsed_body while the upstream service receives the full attacker-controlled body. This issue is fixed in version 0.26.10.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests
The product acts as an intermediary HTTP agent (such as a proxy or firewall) in the data flow between two entities such as a client and server, but it does not interpret malformed HTTP requests or responses in ways that are consistent with how the messages will be processed by those entities that are at the ultimate destination.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Use a web server that employs a strict HTTP parsing procedure, such as Apache.
- Terminate the client session after each request.
More Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests vulnerabilities (CWE-444)
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
Patches and release notes
Other vulnerabilities in skipper
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.2 High severity
- 8.2 High severity
- 8.1 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
Recent Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests vulnerabilities
- 9.1 Critical severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
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