CVE-2026-44681

Authlib is a Python library which builds OAuth and OpenID Connect servers. Prior to 1.6.12 and 1.7.1, an unauthenticated open redirect in Authlib's OpenIDImplicitGrant and OpenIDHybridGrant authorization endpoint lets a remote attacker cause the authorization server to issue an HTTP 302 to an attacker-chosen URL by submitting an authorization request that omits the openid scope. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.6.12 and 1.7.1.

Authlib is a Python library which builds OAuth and OpenID Connect servers. Prior to 1.6.12 and 1.7.1, an unauthenticated open redirect in Authlib's OpenIDImplicitGrant and OpenIDHybridGrant authorization endpoint lets a remote attacker cause the authorization server to issue an HTTP 302 to an attacker-chosen URL by submitting an authorization request that omits the openid scope. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.6.12 and 1.7.1.

Summary

An unauthenticated open redirect in Authlib's OpenIDImplicitGrant and OpenIDHybridGrant authorization endpoint lets a remote attacker cause the authorization server to issue an HTTP 302 to an attacker-chosen URL by submitting an authorization request that omits the openid scope.

Details

Vulnerable code

OpenIDImplicitGrant.validate_authorization_request in authlib/oidc/core/grants/implicit.py:

def validate_authorization_request(self):
    if not is_openid_scope(self.request.payload.scope):
        raise InvalidScopeError(
            "Missing 'openid' scope",
            redirect_uri=self.request.payload.redirect_uri,  # ← raw, unvalidated
            redirect_fragment=True,
        )
    redirect_uri = super().validate_authorization_request()
    ...

OpenIDHybridGrant.validate_authorization_request in authlib/oidc/core/grants/hybrid.py shares the same pattern.

Root cause

Both methods perform the openid scope presence check before delegating to super().validate_authorization_request(), which is where AuthorizationEndpointMixin.validate_authorization_redirect_uri validates the requested redirect_uri against the client's check_redirect_uri(...). The InvalidScopeError thrown by the scope check therefore carries attacker-controlled self.request.payload.redirect_uri.

OAuth2Error.__call__ in authlib/oauth2/base.py renders any error with a non-empty redirect_uri as an HTTP 302:

def __call__(self, uri=None):
    if self.redirect_uri:
        params = self.get_body()
        loc = add_params_to_uri(self.redirect_uri, params, self.redirect_fragment)
        return 302, "", [("Location", loc)]
    return super().__call__(uri=uri)

A malformed authorization request that selects OpenIDImplicitGrant or OpenIDHybridGrant and omits the openid scope is therefore redirected to a fully attacker-chosen URL.

This is a variant of the issue fixed in commit 3be08468 ("fix: redirecting to unvalidated redirect_uri on UnsupportedResponseTypeError") that was missed in the OIDC Implicit and Hybrid grants.

Preconditions

1. The server registers OpenIDImplicitGrant or OpenIDHybridGrant (standard OIDC Implicit or Hybrid flow support).
2. The attacker's request uses a response_type that matches either grant: id_token, id_token token, code id_token, code token, or code id_token token.
3. scope does not contain openid.
4. Any redirect_uri value.

No user authentication, no consent, no valid session, no CSRF token, and — notably — no valid client_id are required. The scope check runs before any client lookup, so any client_id value (including nonexistent ones) reaches the vulnerable code path.

PoC

The following unauthenticated GET is sufficient to induce the authorization server to redirect a victim's browser to an attacker-controlled URL:

GET /oauth/authorize
    ?response_type=id_token
    &client_id=anything
    &scope=profile
    &redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fevil.example.com%2Fphish
    &state=s&nonce=n  HTTP/1.1
Host: victim-op.example

Server response:

HTTP/1.1 302 Found
Location: https://evil.example.com/phish#error=invalid_scope&error_description=Missing+%27openid%27+scope&state=s

Impact

• Open redirect from a trusted authorization server origin. Victims receiving a phishing link see the legitimate OIDC provider's domain in the URL bar at the moment they click. The authorization server itself issues the 302 to the attacker's page, lending the attacker's landing page the OP's reputation and potentially satisfying domain-allow-list controls that trust the OP.
• Phishing / credential harvesting leverage. The attacker's page can mimic the legitimate OP's consent screen or a relying-party error page to solicit credentials, MFA codes, or to continue a downstream confused-deputy attack.
• RFC violation. RFC 6749 §4.1.2.1 and RFC…

Authlib is a Python library which builds OAuth and OpenID Connect servers. Prior to 1.6.12 and 1.7.1, an unauthenticated open redirect in Authlib's OpenIDImplicitGrant and OpenIDHybridGrant authorization endpoint lets a remote attacker cause the authorization server to issue an HTTP 302 to an attacker-chosen URL by submitting an authorization request that omits the openid scope. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.6.12 and 1.7.1.

Authlib is a Python library which builds OAuth and OpenID Connect servers. Prior to 1.6.12 and 1.7.1, an unauthenticated open redirect in Authlib's OpenIDImplicitGrant and OpenIDHybridGrant authorization endpoint lets a remote attacker cause the authorization server to issue an HTTP 302 to an attacker-chosen URL by submitting an authorization request that omits the openid scope. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.6.12 and 1.7.1.

Authlib is a Python library which builds OAuth and OpenID Connect servers. Prior to 1.6.12 and 1.7.1, an unauthenticated open redirect in Authlib's OpenIDImplicitGrant and OpenIDHybridGrant authorization endpoint lets a remote attacker cause the authorization server to issue an HTTP 302 to an attacker-chosen URL by submitting an authorization request that omits the openid scope. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.6.12 and 1.7.1.