Affected: authlib

Authlib is a Python library which builds OAuth and OpenID Connect servers. Prior to version 1.6.9, a cryptographic padding oracle vulnerability was identified in the Authlib Python library concerning the implementation of the JSON Web Encryption (JWE) RSA1_5 key management algorithm. Authlib registers RSA1_5 in its default algorithm registry without requiring explicit opt-in, and actively destroys the constant-time Bleichenbacher mitigation that the underlying cryptography library implements correctly. This issue has been patched in version 1.6.9.

Affected: PyPI: authlib

## 1. Executive Summary

A cryptographic padding oracle vulnerability was identified in the Authlib Python library concerning the implementation of the JSON Web Encryption (JWE) `RSA1_5` key management algorithm. Authlib registers `RSA1_5` in its default algorithm registry without requiring explicit opt-in, and actively destroys the constant-time Bleichenbacher mitigation that the underlying `cryptography` library implements correctly.

When `cryptography` encounters an invalid PKCS#1 v1.5 padding, it returns a randomized byte string instead of raising an exception — the correct behavior per RFC 3218 §2.3.2. Authlib ignores this contract and raises `ValueError('Invalid "cek" length')` immediately after decryption, before reaching AES-GCM tag validation. This creates a clean, reliable **Exception Oracle**:

- **Invalid padding** → `cryptography` returns random bytes → Authlib length check fails → `ValueError: Invalid "cek" length` - **Valid padding, wrong MAC** → decryption succeeds → length check passes → AES-GCM fails → `InvalidTag`

**This oracle is active by default in every Authlib installation without any special configuration by the developer or the attacker.** The three most widely used Python web frameworks — Flask, Django, and FastAPI — all expose distinguishable HTTP responses for these two exception classes in their default configurations, requiring no additional setup to exploit.

**Empirically confirmed on authlib 1.6.8 + cryptography 46.0.5:** ``` [PADDING…

Affected: PyPI: authlib

Authlib is a Python library which builds OAuth and OpenID Connect servers. Prior to version 1.6.9, a cryptographic padding oracle vulnerability was identified in the Authlib Python library concerning the implementation of the JSON Web Encryption (JWE) RSA1_5 key management algorithm. Authlib registers RSA1_5 in its default algorithm registry without requiring explicit opt-in, and actively destroys the constant-time Bleichenbacher mitigation that the underlying cryptography library implements correctly. This issue has been patched in version 1.6.9.