CVE-2026-18174

CVE-2026-18174 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Fastify Fastify/forwarded with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.3. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-20.

Key facts

Description

@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.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-18174?
@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.
How severe is CVE-2026-18174?
CVE-2026-18174 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.3, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity low, and availability none.
Is CVE-2026-18174 being actively exploited?
It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (9th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2026-18174?
CVE-2026-18174 affects Fastify Fastify/forwarded. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2026-18174?
Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2026-18174 published?
CVE-2026-18174 was published on 2026-07-29 and last updated on 2026-08-05.

References

Affected products (1)

Other CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation) vulnerabilities

Browse all CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation) vulnerabilities →