CVE-2025-59420

Authlib: JWS/JWT accepts unknown crit headers (RFC violation → possible authz bypass)

HIGH
7.5
CVSS Score
Published: September 22, 2025 at 05:28 PM UTC
Updated: October 19, 2026 at 04:10 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorAuthlib

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Severity
HIGH7.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.3%
SSVC
PoC

Description

Authlib is a Python library which builds OAuth and OpenID Connect servers. Prior to version 1.6.4, Authlib’s JWS verification accepts tokens that declare unknown critical header parameters (crit), violating RFC 7515 “must‑understand” semantics. An attacker can craft a signed token with a critical header (for example, bork or cnf) that strict verifiers reject but Authlib accepts. In mixed‑language fleets, this enables split‑brain verification and can lead to policy bypass, replay, or privilege escalation. This issue has been patched in version 1.6.4.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 1.6.4
Affected range stops below 1.6.4, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

References (3)

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCPoCAutomatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.5HIGHGitHub_M
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-345CWE-863

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