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TI-2026-14955 Aliases CVE-2026-18174

@fastify/forwarded vulnerable to improper input validation via unstripped tab characters in X-Forwarded-For

Priority LOW 30CWE-184Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · Low · None
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 2 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.

Summary

@fastify/forwarded resolves client addresses from the X-Forwarded-For header. In versions before 3.0.2, when the header contains two or more comma separated entries, the parser trims only space characters and does not strip horizontal tabs, even though RFC 7230 defines optional whitespace as both space and tab. As a result, an entry padded with a tab keeps the literal tab in the resolved address string. Applications that make exact string match security decisions on the resolved client IP, such as an allowlist, a blocklist, a per IP rate limit key, or audit log correlation, can be evaded because the tab corrupted string no longer matches the expected value. This does not cross the trust boundary, since a tab corrupted string is not a valid IP and cannot be mistaken for a trusted proxy. The issue is fixed in @fastify/forwarded 3.0.2.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00322 25th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial @fastify/forwarded (@fastify/forwarded): 3.0.2Red Hat: 2 without a fix

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
Yes
Technical impact
Partial

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
@fastify/forwarded@fastify/forwardedbefore 3.0.23.0.2Patch availableCNA
  • @fastify/forwarded Vendor@fastify/forwarded Affected before 3.0.2 Fixed in 3.0.2 Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:fastify:fastify\/forwarded:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:*before 3.0.2Vulnerablefastify
  • cpe:2.3:a:fastify:fastify\/forwarded:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:* Versions before 3.0.2 Vulnerable ·fastify

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA @fastify/forwarded (@fastify/forwarded) Fixed in 3.0.2

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) 3AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat OpenShift Dev SpacesAffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-18174

References

Sources