feathersjs/feathers · Security

Feathers has an origin validation bypass via prefix matching

GHSA ID
GHSA-mp4x-c34x-wv3x
CVE ID
CVE-2026-27192
Severity
high
Published
Updated
CVSS v4
7.6 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Description

The origin validation uses startsWith() for comparison, allowing attackers to bypass the check by registering a domain that shares a common prefix with an allowed origin.

The getAllowedOrigin() function checks if the Referer header starts with any allowed origin:

// https://github.com/feathersjs/feathers/blob/dove/packages/authentication-oauth/src/strategy.ts#L75
const allowedOrigin = origins.find((current) => referer.toLowerCase().startsWith(current.toLowerCase()));

This comparison is insufficient as it only validates the prefix. This is exploitable when the origins array is configured and an attacker registers a domain starting with an allowed origin string (e.g., https://target.com.attacker.com bypasses https://target.com).

On its own, tokens are still redirected to a configured origin. However, in specific scenarios an attacker can initiate the OAuth flow from an unauthorized origin and exfiltrate tokens, achieving full account takeover.

Credits: Abdelwahed Madani Yousfi (@vvxhid) / Edoardo Geraci (@b0-n0-b0) / Thomas Rinsma (@ThomasRinsma) From Codean Labs.

CWEs

References