CVE-2026-73502

kin-openapi openapi3filter: unauthenticated nil-pointer panic when validating a request against a `content` parameter whose media type has no schema

MEDIUM
5.3
CVSS Score
Published: August 18, 2026 at 05:58 PM UTC
Updated: October 22, 2026 at 10:10 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorKin Openapi

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Severity
MEDIUM5.3
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.5%
SSVC
PoC

Description

kin-openapi is a Go project for handling OpenAPI files. From 0.2.0 until 0.144.0, openapi3filter.ValidateRequest can encounter a NULL-pointer-dereference denial of service when an operation declares a content parameter whose application/json media type has no schema. In openapi3filter/req_resp_decoder.go, the default defaultContentParameterDecoder dereferences mt.Schema.Value without checking whether mt.Schema is nil, even though doc.Validate() accepts the document under OpenAPI 3.0.x and 3.1.x. A single unauthenticated request supplying the parameter value can panic request validation, causing an aborted request with log growth in the common synchronous net/http path or a full process crash in integrations without recovery. This issue is fixed in version 0.144.0.

Affected

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

>= 0.2.0, < 0.144.0
Affected range stops below 0.144.0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCPoCNot automatablePartial impact

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

CVSS

5.3MEDIUMGitHub_M
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
LOW
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusDEFERRED
CWE
CWE-476

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