Vulnerability record · CVE-2026-73501 · published 12 August 2026
CVE-2026-73501: Improper authentication vulnerability
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.
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.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
References
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Related vulnerabilities
Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2026-73501), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-27). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.