Vulnerability · Published Mar 26, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M

CVE-2026-33496Ory Oathkeeper has an authentication bypass by cache key confusion

High 8.1

In plain English

A high-severity security flaw in oathkeeper from ory. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.4% (higher than 33% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)8.1High
Exploit odds (30 days)0.4%top 67.3% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

ORY Oathkeeper is an Identity & Access Proxy (IAP) and Access Control Decision API that authorizes HTTP requests based on sets of Access Rules. Versions prior to 26.2.0 are vulnerable to authentication bypass due to cache key confusion. The `oauth2_introspection` authenticator cache does not distinguish tokens that were validated with different introspection URLs. An attacker can therefore legitimately use a token to prime the cache, and subsequently use the same token for rules that use a different introspection server. Ory Oathkeeper has to be configured with multiple `oauth2_introspection` authenticator servers, each accepting different tokens. The authenticators also must be configured to use caching. An attacker has to have a way to gain a valid token for one of the configured introspection servers. Starting in version 26.2.0, Ory Oathkeeper includes the introspection server URL in the cache key, preventing confusion of tokens. Update to the patched version of Ory Oathkeeper. If that is not immediately possible, disable caching for `oauth2_introspection` authenticators.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Gogithub.com/ory/oathkeeper0.40.10-0.20260320084801-198a2bc82a99GHSA-4mq7-pvjg-xp2r
Gogithub.com/ory/oathkeeper0.40.10-0.20260320084801-198a2bc82a99GO-2026-4799

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
ory oathkeeper < 26.2.0

Weakness: CWE-1289, CWE-305 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

References