CVE-2026-118669

OAuthLib is an implementation of the OAuth request-signing logic for Python 3.6+. Prior to 4.0.0, the client_credentials and Resource Owner Password Credentials token grant handlers can authenticate request.client as one confidential client while retaining an attacker-supplied request.client_id for validate_grant_type and validate_scopes. A lower-privilege authenticated client can therefore cause grant and scope authorization to use another client's identity when an application validator relies on the documented client_id argument, potentially issuing tokens with unauthorized grants or scopes. Validators that authorize exclusively from request.client may not be affected. This issue is fixed in version 4.0.0.

OAuthLib is an implementation of the OAuth request-signing logic for Python 3.6+. Prior to 4.0.0, the client_credentials and Resource Owner Password Credentials token grant handlers can authenticate request.client as one confidential client while retaining an attacker-supplied request.client_id for validate_grant_type and validate_scopes. A lower-privilege authenticated client can therefore cause grant and scope authorization to use another client's identity when an application validator relies on the documented client_id argument, potentially issuing tokens with unauthorized grants or scopes. Validators that authorize exclusively from request.client may not be affected. This issue is fixed in version 4.0.0.

Summary

OAuthlib's token grant handlers can authenticate one client while authorizing the grant type and requested scopes using a different, attacker-supplied client_id from the request body.

In affected token grant flows, authenticate_client(request) sets request.client to the authenticated client object, but OAuthlib does not require request.client_id to match request.client.client_id. If the request body already contains client_id=..., OAuthlib keeps that value and passes it to validate_grant_type() and validate_scopes().

As a result, an authenticated low-privilege confidential client can authenticate as itself, submit another client's client_id in the token request body, and cause grant and scope validation to run under that other client identity.

Affected Surface

The affected public surface is the OAuth2 token endpoint handling for:

• client_credentials
• password / Resource Owner Password Credentials

The issue is relevant to OAuthlib provider deployments where:

• the attacker has credentials for one valid lower-privilege confidential client;
• another client has broader grants or scopes;
• the application validator uses the client_id argument passed by OAuthlib in validate_grant_type() or validate_scopes(), as the RequestValidator API is designed to support.

Deployments whose validators ignore the client_id argument and authorize only from request.client may not be affected.

Details

Request parses query and body parameters into request attributes, including client_id:

• https://github.com/oauthlib/oauthlib/blob/b3f9edffed6b370e3eb92721cea0da22ec7e18b9/oauthlib/common.py#L360-L397

The RequestValidator.authenticate_client() contract requires the integrator to authenticate the client and set request.client:

• https://github.com/oauthlib/oauthlib/blob/b3f9edffed6b370e3eb92721cea0da22ec7e18b9/oauthlib/oauth2/rfc6749/request_validator.py#L41-L66

For the client_credentials grant, OAuthlib authenticates the client, verifies that request.client has a client_id, then performs grant and scope validation before normalizing request.client_id from request.client.client_id:

• https://github.com/oauthlib/oauthlib/blob/b3f9edffed6b370e3eb92721cea0da22ec7e18b9/oauthlib/oauth2/rfc6749/grant_types/client_credentials.py#L106-L119

The problematic order is:

if not self.request_validator.authenticate_client(request):
    ...
elif not hasattr(request.client, 'client_id'):
    ...

self.validate_grant_type(request)

request.client_id = request.client_id or request.client.client_id
self.validate_scopes(request)

Because OAuthlib only fills request.client_id when it is missing, an attacker-supplied body value such as client_id=high survives even when request.client.client_id == "low".

The shared grant helper then authorizes using request.client_id, while passing the authenticated client object separately:

• validate_grant_type(request.client_id, request.grant_type, request.client, request): https://github.com/oauthlib/oauthlib/blob/b3f9edffed6b370e3eb92721cea0da22ec7e18b9/oauthlib/oauth2/rfc6749/grant_types/base.py#L152-L162
• validate_scopes(request.client_id, request.scopes, request.client, request): https://github.com/oauthlib/oauthlib/blob/b3f9edffed6b370e3eb92721cea0da22ec7e18b9/oauthlib/oauth2/rfc6749/grant_types/base.py#L164-L176

The same identity split exists in the Resource Owner Password Credentials flow. After client authentication and user validation, OAuthlib validates the grant and scopes before replacing a missing request.client_id from request.client.client_id:

• https://github.com/oauthlib/oauthlib/blob/b3f9edffed6b370e3eb92721cea0da22ec7e18b9/oauthlib/oauth2/rfc6749/grant_types/resource_owner_password_credentials.py#L87-L97
• https://github.com/oauthlib/oauthlib/blob/b3f9edffed6b370e3eb92721cea0da22ec7e18b9/oauthlib/oauth2/rfc6749/grant_types/resource_owner_password_credentials.py#L178-L195

This creates an…

OAuthLib is an implementation of the OAuth request-signing logic for Python 3.6+. Prior to 4.0.0, the client_credentials and Resource Owner Password Credentials token grant handlers can authenticate request.client as one confidential client while retaining an attacker-supplied request.client_id for validate_grant_type and validate_scopes. A lower-privilege authenticated client can therefore cause grant and scope authorization to use another client's identity when an application validator relies on the documented client_id argument, potentially issuing tokens with unauthorized grants or scopes. Validators that authorize exclusively from request.client may not be affected. This issue is fixed in version 4.0.0.

OAuthLib is an implementation of the OAuth request-signing logic for Python 3.6+. Prior to 4.0.0, the client_credentials and Resource Owner Password Credentials token grant handlers can authenticate request.client as one confidential client while retaining an attacker-supplied request.client_id for validate_grant_type and validate_scopes. A lower-privilege authenticated client can therefore cause grant and scope authorization to use another client's identity when an application validator relies on the documented client_id argument, potentially issuing tokens with unauthorized grants or scopes. Validators that authorize exclusively from request.client may not be affected. This issue is fixed in version 4.0.0.

OAuthLib is an implementation of the OAuth request-signing logic for Python 3.6+. Prior to 4.0.0, the client_credentials and Resource Owner Password Credentials token grant handlers can authenticate request.client as one confidential client while retaining an attacker-supplied request.client_id for validate_grant_type and validate_scopes. A lower-privilege authenticated client can therefore cause grant and scope authorization to use another client's identity when an application validator relies on the documented client_id argument, potentially issuing tokens with unauthorized grants or scopes. Validators that authorize exclusively from request.client may not be affected. This issue is fixed in version 4.0.0.