CVE-2026-73501kin-openapi: ValidationHandler.Load() Fail-Open Authentication Bypass via NoopAuthenticationFunc Default
- 9.1CriticalCVSS base score
- 0.43%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 63% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- YesPublic exploitsa reference or SSVC says so
Description
kin-openapi is a Go project for handling OpenAPI files. Prior to 0.144.0, ValidationHandler.Load() in openapi3filter/validation_handler.go silently replaces a nil AuthenticationFunc with NoopAuthenticationFunc, which returns nil without checking credentials. This substitution causes every OpenAPI security requirement to be satisfied for unauthenticated requests when an application relies on ValidationHandler as its enforcement middleware. The no-op callback prevents the fail-closed ErrAuthenticationServiceMissing path from being reached and forwards the request to protected handlers that may require an API key, OAuth token, or another security scheme. This issue is fixed in version 0.144.0.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. A reference of the record is tagged as an exploit. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: a proof of concept is public.
Show the exploits1
References tagged exploit1 reference
- https://github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/security/advisories/GHSA-r277-6w6q-xmqw (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMexploit
Timeline
ID reserved
By GitHub_M
Published
- 1 day later
· 1 day later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub_MCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | Critical9.1 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N |
| NVDNVD · Deferred | 3.1 | Critical9.1 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.43% · top 63% of all CVEs (15 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: poc · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Critical 9.1.
Affected products
- affected < 0.144.0
References
References3
- https://github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/security/advisories/GHSA-r277-6w6q-xmqw (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMexploit
- https://github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/commit/f0407d53b0730280266f454b755010e7eeb985da (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/releases/tag/v0.144.0 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2026-57598 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2026-73501)Record last updated .