CVE-2026-40934

Jupyter Server is the backend for Jupyter web applications. In versions 2.17.0 and earlier, the secret used to sign authentication cookies is persisted to a static file at ~/.local/share/jupyter/runtime/jupyter_cookie_secret and is never rotated when a user changes their password. After a password reset and server restart, any previously issued authentication cookie remains cryptographically valid because the signing key has not changed. An attacker who has captured a session cookie through any means retains full authenticated access to the server regardless of subsequent password changes. This affects deployments using password-based authentication, particularly shared or public-facing servers where credential rotation is expected to revoke existing sessions. This issue has been fixed in version 2.18.0.

Summary

A persistent cookie secret vulnerability allows authenticated users to maintain indefinite access even after password changes.

The cookie secret used to sign authentication cookies is stored in a permanent file (~/.local/share/jupyter/runtime/jupyter_cookie_secret) that is never automatically rotated or cleared, allowing stolen or compromised cookies to remain valid indefinitely regardless of password resets.

PoC

• Start a Jupyter server with password authentication: jupyter server password, jupyter server
• Log in with the password and capture the authentication cookie (e.g., just login with a browser).
• Change the password to revoke access: jupyter server password
• Restart the server
• Use the old stolen cookie => remains valid and provides full authenticated access.

Impact

• All jupyter-server deployments using password authentication where security incidents may occur
• Multi-user systems where one user's compromised session should be revocable by administrators
• Shared or public-facing Jupyter servers where credential rotation is a security requirement
• Any deployment where password changes are expected to revoke existing sessions

Patches

Jupyter Server 2.18+

Workaround

rm ~/.local/share/jupyter/runtime/jupyter_cookie_secret
# Then restart the server

The backend for Jupyter web applications

Security Fix(es):

Jupyter Server is the backend for Jupyter web applications. In jupyter_server versions through 2.17.0, the next query parameter in the login flow is insufficiently validated in LoginFormHandler._redirect_safe(), which allows redirects to arbitrary external domains via values such as ///example.com. An attacker can use a crafted login URL to redirect users to a malicious site and facilitate phishing attacks. This issue is fixed in version 2.18.0.(CVE-2025-61669)

Jupyter Server is the backend for Jupyter web applications. In versions 2.17.0 and earlier, a path traversal vulnerability in the REST API allows an authenticated user to escape the configured root_dir and access sibling directories whose names begin with the same prefix as the root_dir. For example, with a root_dir named "test", the API permits access to a sibling directory named "testtest" through a crafted request to the /api/contents endpoint using encoded path components. An attacker can read, write, and delete files in affected sibling directories. Multi-tenant deployments using predictable naming schemes are particularly at risk, as a user with a directory named "user1" could access directories for user10 through user19 and beyond. A user who can choose a single-character folder name could gain access to a significant number of sibling directories.

Version 2.18.0 contains a fix. As a workaround, ensure folder names do not share a common prefix with any sibling directory.(CVE-2026-35397)

Jupyter Server is the backend for Jupyter web applications. In versions 2.17.0 and earlier, the Origin header validation uses Python's re.match() to check incoming origins against the allow_origin_pat configuration value. Because re.match() only anchors at the start of the string and does not require a full match, a pattern intended to match only a trusted domain (e.g., trusted.example.com) will also match any origin that begins with that domain followed by additional characters (e.g., trusted.example.com.evil.com). An attacker who controls such a domain can bypass the CORS origin restriction and make cross-origin requests to the Jupyter Server API from an untrusted site. This issue has been fixed in version 2.18.0.(CVE-2026-40110)

Jupyter Server is the backend for Jupyter web applications. In versions 2.17.0 and earlier, the secret used to sign authentication cookies is persisted to a static file at ~/.local/share/jupyter/runtime/jupyter_cookie_secret and is never rotated when a user changes their password. After a password reset and server restart, any previously issued authentication cookie remains cryptographically valid because the signing key has not changed. An attacker who has captured a session cookie through any means retains full authenticated access to the server regardless of subsequent password changes. This affects deployments using password-based authentication, particularly shared or public-facing servers where credential rotation is expected to revoke existing sessions. This issue has been fixed in version 2.18.0.(CVE-2026-40934)

The backend for Jupyter web applications

Security Fix(es):

Jupyter Server is the backend for Jupyter web applications. In jupyter_server versions through 2.17.0, the next query parameter in the login flow is insufficiently validated in LoginFormHandler._redirect_safe(), which allows redirects to arbitrary external domains via values such as ///example.com. An attacker can use a crafted login URL to redirect users to a malicious site and facilitate phishing attacks. This issue is fixed in version 2.18.0.(CVE-2025-61669)

Jupyter Server is the backend for Jupyter web applications. In versions 2.17.0 and earlier, a path traversal vulnerability in the REST API allows an authenticated user to escape the configured root_dir and access sibling directories whose names begin with the same prefix as the root_dir. For example, with a root_dir named "test", the API permits access to a sibling directory named "testtest" through a crafted request to the /api/contents endpoint using encoded path components. An attacker can read, write, and delete files in affected sibling directories. Multi-tenant deployments using predictable naming schemes are particularly at risk, as a user with a directory named "user1" could access directories for user10 through user19 and beyond. A user who can choose a single-character folder name could gain access to a significant number of sibling directories.

Version 2.18.0 contains a fix. As a workaround, ensure folder names do not share a common prefix with any sibling directory.(CVE-2026-35397)

Jupyter Server is the backend for Jupyter web applications. In versions 2.17.0 and earlier, the Origin header validation uses Python's re.match() to check incoming origins against the allow_origin_pat configuration value. Because re.match() only anchors at the start of the string and does not require a full match, a pattern intended to match only a trusted domain (e.g., trusted.example.com) will also match any origin that begins with that domain followed by additional characters (e.g., trusted.example.com.evil.com). An attacker who controls such a domain can bypass the CORS origin restriction and make cross-origin requests to the Jupyter Server API from an untrusted site. This issue has been fixed in version 2.18.0.(CVE-2026-40110)

Jupyter Server is the backend for Jupyter web applications. In versions 2.17.0 and earlier, the secret used to sign authentication cookies is persisted to a static file at ~/.local/share/jupyter/runtime/jupyter_cookie_secret and is never rotated when a user changes their password. After a password reset and server restart, any previously issued authentication cookie remains cryptographically valid because the signing key has not changed. An attacker who has captured a session cookie through any means retains full authenticated access to the server regardless of subsequent password changes. This affects deployments using password-based authentication, particularly shared or public-facing servers where credential rotation is expected to revoke existing sessions. This issue has been fixed in version 2.18.0.(CVE-2026-40934)

The backend for Jupyter web applications

Security Fix(es):

Jupyter Server is the backend for Jupyter web applications. In jupyter_server versions through 2.17.0, the next query parameter in the login flow is insufficiently validated in LoginFormHandler._redirect_safe(), which allows redirects to arbitrary external domains via values such as ///example.com. An attacker can use a crafted login URL to redirect users to a malicious site and facilitate phishing attacks. This issue is fixed in version 2.18.0.(CVE-2025-61669)

Jupyter Server is the backend for Jupyter web applications. In versions 2.17.0 and earlier, a path traversal vulnerability in the REST API allows an authenticated user to escape the configured root_dir and access sibling directories whose names begin with the same prefix as the root_dir. For example, with a root_dir named "test", the API permits access to a sibling directory named "testtest" through a crafted request to the /api/contents endpoint using encoded path components. An attacker can read, write, and delete files in affected sibling directories. Multi-tenant deployments using predictable naming schemes are particularly at risk, as a user with a directory named "user1" could access directories for user10 through user19 and beyond. A user who can choose a single-character folder name could gain access to a significant number of sibling directories.

Version 2.18.0 contains a fix. As a workaround, ensure folder names do not share a common prefix with any sibling directory.(CVE-2026-35397)

Jupyter Server is the backend for Jupyter web applications. In versions 2.17.0 and earlier, the Origin header validation uses Python's re.match() to check incoming origins against the allow_origin_pat configuration value. Because re.match() only anchors at the start of the string and does not require a full match, a pattern intended to match only a trusted domain (e.g., trusted.example.com) will also match any origin that begins with that domain followed by additional characters (e.g., trusted.example.com.evil.com). An attacker who controls such a domain can bypass the CORS origin restriction and make cross-origin requests to the Jupyter Server API from an untrusted site. This issue has been fixed in version 2.18.0.(CVE-2026-40110)

Jupyter Server is the backend for Jupyter web applications. In versions 2.17.0 and earlier, the secret used to sign authentication cookies is persisted to a static file at ~/.local/share/jupyter/runtime/jupyter_cookie_secret and is never rotated when a user changes their password. After a password reset and server restart, any previously issued authentication cookie remains cryptographically valid because the signing key has not changed. An attacker who has captured a session cookie through any means retains full authenticated access to the server regardless of subsequent password changes. This affects deployments using password-based authentication, particularly shared or public-facing servers where credential rotation is expected to revoke existing sessions. This issue has been fixed in version 2.18.0.(CVE-2026-40934)

Jupyter Server is the backend for Jupyter web applications. In versions 2.17.0 and earlier, the secret used to sign authentication cookies is persisted to a static file at ~/.local/share/jupyter/runtime/jupyter_cookie_secret and is never rotated when a user changes their password. After a password reset and server restart, any previously issued authentication cookie remains cryptographically valid because the signing key has not changed. An attacker who has captured a session cookie through any means retains full authenticated access to the server regardless of subsequent password changes. This affects deployments using password-based authentication, particularly shared or public-facing servers where credential rotation is expected to revoke existing sessions. This issue has been fixed in version 2.18.0.

Jupyter Server is the backend for Jupyter web applications. In versions 2.17.0 and earlier, the secret used to sign authentication cookies is persisted to a static file at ~/.local/share/jupyter/runtime/jupyter_cookie_secret and is never rotated when a user changes their password. After a password reset and server restart, any previously issued authentication cookie remains cryptographically valid because the signing key has not changed. An attacker who has captured a session cookie through any means retains full authenticated access to the server regardless of subsequent password changes. This affects deployments using password-based authentication, particularly shared or public-facing servers where credential rotation is expected to revoke existing sessions. This issue has been fixed in version 2.18.0.

These are all security issues fixed in the python311-jupyter-server-2.18.1-1.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.