Envoy: HTTP RBAC safe_regex can fail open on RFC-valid obs-text header values
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · None · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
Envoy is an open source edge and service proxy designed for cloud-native applications. Prior to 1.36.10, 1.37.6, 1.38.4, and 1.39.1, Envoy HTTP RBAC accepts RFC-valid opaque header bytes but evaluates safe_regex values with RE2's UTF-8 subject semantics. A downstream client can preserve a prohibited marker and add an unrelated obs-text octet, causing RE2::FullMatch to return false and a negative RBAC policy to treat the invalid subject as an ordinary no-match. A byte-oriented route matcher can still observe the marker, allowing the request to reach a route intended to be denied. The relevant scope boundary is that plain positive ALLOW regexes normally fail closed, and exact, prefix, suffix, and contains matchers are not shown to have this subject-domain failure. This issue is fixed in versions 1.36.10, 1.37.6, 1.38.4, and 1.39.1.
Why it matters now
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
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| envoyproxy | envoy | before 1.36.10; 1.37.0 to before 1.37.6; 1.38.0 to before 1.38.4; 1.39.0 to before 1.39.1 | 1.36.10, 1.37.6, 1.38.4, 1.39.1 | Patch available | CNA |
- envoy Vendorenvoyproxy Affected before 1.36.10; 1.37.0 to before 1.37.6; 1.38.0 to before 1.38.4; 1.39.0 to before 1.39.1 Fixed in 1.36.10, 1.37.6, 1.38.4, 1.39.1 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:envoyproxy:envoy:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | before 1.36.10; 1.37.0 to before 1.37.6; 1.38.0 to before 1.38.4; 1.39.0 to before 1.39.1 | Vulnerable | envoyproxy |
- cpe:2.3:a:envoyproxy:envoy:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 1.36.10; 1.37.0 to before 1.37.6; 1.38.0 to before 1.38.4; 1.39.0 to before 1.39.1 Vulnerable ·envoyproxy
Remediation
- Fix · CNA envoy (envoyproxy) Fixed in 1.36.10, 1.37.6, 1.38.4, 1.39.1
Red Hat 5 advisories
- RHSA-2026:65121 Released 2026-09-08 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.4.2
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.4 registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-cni-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-pilot-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-proxyv2-rhel9 +1
- RHSA-2026:65115 Released 2026-09-08 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.3.7
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.3 registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-cni-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-pilot-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-proxyv2-rhel9 +1
- RHSA-2026:65113 Released 2026-09-08 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.2.9
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.2 registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-cni-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-pilot-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-proxyv2-rhel9 +1
Show 2 more Red Hat advisories
- RHSA-2026:65112 Released 2026-09-08 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.1.12
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.1 registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-cni-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-pilot-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-proxyv2-rhel9 +1
- RHSA-2026:65106 Released 2026-09-08 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.0.15
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.0 registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-cni-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-pilot-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift-service-mesh/istio-proxyv2-rhel9 +1
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.0 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:65106 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.1 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:65112 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.2 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:65113 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.3 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:65115 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.4 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:65121 |
Not affected: 5 products
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.0
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.1
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.2
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.3
- Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.4
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-73552
- 2026-10-06 EPSS moved to the below the 50th percentile
- 2026-10-07 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
References
Patch 4
- https://github.com/envoyproxy/envoy/commit/5650cb9770d4420ec2bcbed8b90be06f564ecc07
- https://github.com/envoyproxy/envoy/commit/7d1dee5dda66434d84437cc5c85153aa03955e26
- https://github.com/envoyproxy/envoy/commit/c2b9a19dc081f03be6a9b4ca932673e5e7a33d18
- https://github.com/envoyproxy/envoy/commit/f3726765f3a12ddc76dcb52c0b79bec3d95ced1c
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- TI-2024-20001 HTTP/2: CPU exhaustion due to CONTINUATION frame flood CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2024-18524 HTTP/2: memory exhaustion due to CONTINUATION frame flood CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2023-12215 Envoy client may fake the header `x-envoy-original-path` CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2023-18002 Envoy vulnerable to OAuth2 credentials exploit with permanent validity CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
Sources
- CVE-2026-73552 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-73552 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- CVE-2026-73552 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences