`HTTPPasswordMgr` can send saved HTTPS credentials via HTTP because of incorrect scheme matching (Python Software Foundation CPython)

CVE-2026-15806
MEDIUM 6.0

At a glance

Source
NVD
EPSS
EPSS 0.53 % · percentile 45 ()
State
PUBLISHED
Published
Updated
Assigner
PSF
NVD status
Awaiting Analysis

Description

The HTTPPasswordMgr class in the urllib.request module, along with its subclasses HTTPPasswordMgrWithDefaultRealm and HTTPPasswordMgrWithPriorAuth, did not take the URL scheme into account when matching stored credentials against a requested URL. Credentials added for an https:// URL were also used for requests to the same host over http://, so an attacker able to redirect or downgrade a client to plain HTTP (for example, via an HTTPS-to-HTTP redirect or an on-path position) could capture credentials in cleartext. Credentials added for http:// URLs could likewise be sent over https://. Credential matching is now scoped by URL scheme. Credentials registered with a URL that includes a scheme are only used for requests with the same scheme. Credentials registered with a bare authority (such as example.com or example.com:8080) continue to match any scheme, preserving compatibility with existing code, including proxy authentication. Users who cannot upgrade immediately can mitigate by ensuring that applications never make plain http:// requests to hosts for which credentials are registered, for example by not following redirects to http:// URLs.

Weaknesses (CWE)

  • CWE-319 — Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information
  • CWE-522 — Insufficiently Protected Credentials

References

Scores

VersionScoreVectorScored by
CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 6.0CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:NPSF
CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 6.0CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XNVD · cna@python.org (Secondary)

European references

CERT-FR advisories

Affected products

ProductVersions
Python Software Foundation · CPythonaffected 0 < 3.10.22 ; affected 3.11.0 < 3.11.17 ; affected 3.12.0 < 3.12.15 ; affected 3.13.0 < 3.13.16 ; affected 3.14.0 < 3.14.8 ; affected 3.15.0a1 < 3.15.0rc2

Sources

SourceLicence
CVE List (CVEProject cvelistV5)CVE Program Terms of Use
EPSS (FIRST.org)FIRST — attribution requested
ENISA EUVDENISA — reproduction authorised, source acknowledged
CERT-FR (ANSSI)Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0
NVD (NIST) via fkie-cad/nvd-json-data-feedsPublic domain — this product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD