CVE-2025-14524VulnerabilityPublished 6 Jan 2026Updated 17 Oct 2026

Curl: When an OAuth2 bearer token is used for an HTTP(S) transfer, and that transfer performs a cross-protocol

Affects curlSource GCVE Database

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium · fixed in 7.81.0-1ubuntu1.22 : update curl when convenient.

Data as of 12 Nov 2026, 23:23 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.3Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 52% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 7.81.0-1ubuntu1.22, 8.5.0-2ubuntu10.7, 8.14.1-2ubuntu1.1

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: High
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: High: A successful attack depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. That is, a successful attack cannot be accomplished at will, but requires the attacker to invest in some measurable amount of effort in preparation or execution against the vulnerable component before a successful attack can be expected. For example, a successful attack may require an attacker to: gather knowledge about the environment in which the vulnerable target/component exists; prepare the target environment to improve exploit reliability; or inject themselves into the logical network path between the target and the resource requested by the victim in order to read and/or modify network communications (e.g., a man in the middle attack).
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 6 Jan 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 13 Nov 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade the Ubuntu curl to 7.81.0-1ubuntu1.22 (package) or 8.5.0-2ubuntu10.7 (package) or 8.14.1-2ubuntu1.1 (package).

Patches and advisories

ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8062-1 (opens in a new tab)

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Ubuntu 25.10curl`pkg:deb/ubuntu/curl?arch=source&distro=questing`Other threats	Affected <8.14.1-2ubuntu1.1	Fixed in 8.14.1-2ubuntu1.1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTScurl`pkg:deb/ubuntu/curl?arch=source&distro=noble`Other threats	Affected <8.5.0-2ubuntu10.7	Fixed in 8.5.0-2ubuntu10.7
Ubuntu 22.04 LTScurl`pkg:deb/ubuntu/curl?arch=source&distro=jammy`Other threats	Affected <7.81.0-1ubuntu1.22	Fixed in 7.81.0-1ubuntu1.22
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTScurl`pkg:deb/ubuntu/curl?arch=source&distro=esm-infra/focal`Other threats	Affected 7.65.3-1ubuntu3 – 7.68.0-1ubuntu2.25+esm10 35 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTScurl`pkg:deb/ubuntu/curl?arch=source&distro=esm-infra/bionic`Other threats	Affected 7.55.1-1ubuntu2 – 7.58.0-2ubuntu3.24+esm15 41 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTScurl`pkg:deb/ubuntu/curl?arch=source&distro=esm-infra-legacy/xenial`Other threats	Affected 7.43.0-1ubuntu2 – 7.47.0-1ubuntu2.19+esm21 41 affected builds	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

A fix is available and users should update curl to the patched package versions provided by Ubuntu as detailed in the advisory USN-8062-1. Applying the official updates will prevent curl from forwarding OAuth2 bearer tokens during cross-protocol redirects. No additional mitigation steps are required beyond applying the vendor-provided patches.

Description

CVE-2025-14524 is a vulnerability in curl where an OAuth2 bearer token used during an HTTP(S) transfer may be incorrectly passed to a redirected URL that uses a different protocol such as IMAP, LDAP, POP3, or SMTP. This behavior can lead to unintended disclosure of authentication credentials to the new target host. The issue affects multiple Ubuntu curl package versions and has a CVSS score of 5.3, indicating a medium severity impact. A patch is available from Ubuntu to address this vulnerability.

Impact

A remote attacker controlling a redirect target could potentially obtain OAuth2 bearer tokens that were intended only for the original HTTP(S) host. This could lead to unauthorized access to resources protected by these tokens. The CVSS score of 5.3 reflects a medium impact with high confidentiality impact but no integrity or availability impact. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time.

Summary

When curl performs an HTTP(S) transfer using an OAuth2 bearer token and encounters a cross-protocol redirect to a URL with IMAP, LDAP, POP3, or SMTP schemes, it may erroneously forward the bearer token to the redirected host. This flaw can result in the exposure of sensitive authentication tokens to unintended recipients. The vulnerability affects various Ubuntu curl package versions prior to the patched releases. Ubuntu has released fixes in updated curl packages for multiple Ubuntu releases to mitigate this issue.

References

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