Vulnerability in github.com/getkin/kin-openapi (CVE-2026-97394)
Summary
Vulnerability in github.com/getkin/kin-openapi (CVE-2026-97394). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. Exploitable via openapi3filter. Mitigation: upgrade to 0.143.0 or later.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
Summary
A nil-pointer dereference in openapi3filter lets any unauthenticated client crash a request handler with a single HTTP request against an OpenAPI 3.1 operation that declares type: array without items. OpenAPI 3.1 (JSON Schema 2020-12) permits omitting items, and doc.Validate() accepts such schemas with Schema.Items == nil. Request/response decoders then dereference Items with no nil check. The panic is deterministic (100%) on every request to the affected operation. There is no recover() in openapi3filter; under handlers without per-request recover the process can exit.
Details
Spec-validation asymmetry. OpenAPI 3.0 rejects array schemas that omit items (openapi3/schema.go around the TypeArray / newSchemaItemsRequired branch). For OpenAPI 3.1, T.Validate enables jsonSchema2020ValidationEnabled, so that check is skipped and Schema.Items remains nil after a clean doc.Validate().
Vulnerable decoder. The primary request-side crash is in UrlencodedBodyDecoder (still present on this checkout at L1421):
case propType.Is("array"):
items := propSchema.Value.Items.Value // Items == nil → panic
This runs during schema inspection before form values are parsed. Any non-empty application/x-www-form-urlencoded body for the operation rea…
Source: GitHub Security Advisories (Global) NVD GitHub Advisory
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-97394 has been found in github.com/getkin/kin-openapi.
Attackers can target a specific entry point like openapi3filter over the network to misuse the product.
Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. CVSS score: 7.5/10.
What to do: upgrade github.com/getkin/kin-openapi to 0.143.0 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "github.com/getkin/kin-openapi CVE-2026-97394" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2026-97394 (github.com/getkin/kin-openapi) — CWE-248 / CVSS v3 7.5
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / unauthenticated / no user interaction
Attack surface: openapi3filter / items / Items / TypeArray
Patched: 0.143.0 — apply immediately
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
A vulnerability (CWE-248) exists in github.com/getkin/kin-openapi. Attackers reach the vulnerable code path via openapi3filter without authentication.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of github.com/getkin/kin-openapi. Attack surface: openapi3filter / items / Items / TypeArray.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.5/10). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
Update to 0.143.0.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'github.com/getkin/kin-openapi' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
-
1Identify exposure identify
grep -r 'github.com/getkin/kin-openapi' . | grep -v node_modulesリポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で
github.com/getkin/kin-openapiを grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。 -
2Apply patch patch
Upgrade github.com/getkin/kin-openapi to 0.143.0ステージング環境で 0.143.0 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
-
3Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
Affected packages
Fix status by distribution
Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE
- Ubuntu UBUNTU-CVE-2026-97394 golang-github-getkin-kin-openapi
References
- advisory nvd.nist.gov
- package github.com
- REDHAT Red Hat
- web github.com
- web github.com
- web github.com
- web github.com