CVE-2026-52845 HIGH

CVE-2026-52845: Caddy: FastCGI header normalization bypass in `forward_auth copy_headers`

Vendor Caddyserver
Product caddy
Weakness CWE-287 · Improper authentication
Published June 23, 2026
Last update June 30, 2026

CVSS base score

8.1/10
Attack vector Network
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required Low
User interaction None
Confidentiality High
Integrity High

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

What the vulnerability does

01Description

Caddy is an extensible server platform that uses TLS by default. Prior to 2.11.4, forward_auth copy_headers deletes the exact client-supplied identity header before copying the trusted value from the auth gateway. But when the request later goes through php_fastcgi, Caddy normalizes HTTP headers into CGI variables by replacing - with _. This lets a client send an underscore alias that survives the forward_auth delete step but becomes the same PHP/FastCGI variable. Result: a remote client can inject or sometimes override identity/group headers trusted by PHP/FastCGI applications behind Caddy. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.11.4.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

June 23, 2026 CVE published
June 30, 2026 Record updated