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MEDIUM Received

CVE-2026-18174

@fastify/forwarded resolves client addresses from the X-Forwarded-For header. In versions before 3.0.2, when the header contains two or more comma separated entries, the parser trims only space characters and does not strip horizontal tabs, even though RFC 7230 defines optional whitespace as both space and tab. As a result, an entry padded with a tab keeps the literal tab in the resolved address string. Applications that make exact string match security decisions on the resolved client IP, such as an allowlist, a blocklist, a per IP rate limit key, or audit log correlation, can be evaded because the tab corrupted string no longer matches the expected value. This does not cross the trust boundary, since a tab corrupted string is not a valid IP and cannot be mistaken for a trusted proxy. The issue is fixed in @fastify/forwarded 3.0.2.

Published 29 Jul 2026, 14:16 UTC Last modified 29 Jul 2026, 14:16 UTC
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Attack profile

The conditions required to exploit this vulnerability and its potential impact.

Attack vector Network
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required None
User interaction None
Scope Unchanged
Confidentiality None
Integrity Low
Availability None
Exploitability3.9
Impact1.4
02

Affected products

Product applicability statements supplied with the NVD record.

NVD has not published structured affected-product data for this record.
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Weakness classification

CWE categories help security teams group the underlying software weakness.

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Source references

External advisories, patches and technical reports attached to this CVE record.