Kimi cli: joserfc: HS256/HS384/HS512 verify accepts empty/nil HMAC key (cross-language sibling of CVE-2026-45363) (CVE-2026-49852)
Description
### Summary `joserfc.jwt.decode` accepts attacker-forged HMAC-signed tokens when the caller-supplied verification key is the empty string or `None`. `HMACAlgorithm.sign` and `HMACAlgorithm.verify` in [`src/joserfc/_rfc7518/jws_algs.py:62-70`](https://github.com/authlib/joserfc/blob/1ddca8f3c73ff47e3bc3ac06cb0c08a9535677ec/src/joserfc/_rfc7518/jws_algs.py#L62-L70) feed whatever `OctKey.get_op_key(...)` produced into `hmac.new(...)`, and `OctKey.import_key` only emits a `SecurityWarning` when the raw key is shorter than 14 bytes without rejecting zero-length input. Any application whose JWT secret is sourced from an unset environment variable, an unset Redis / DB row, a key finder fallback that returns `""`, or a `Hash.new("")`-style default verifies attacker tokens forged with `HMAC(key=b"", signing_input)` because the attacker trivially reproduces the same digest with no secret knowledge. This is a cross-language sibling of jwt/ruby-jwt GHSA-c32j-vqhx-rx3x / CVE-2026-45363 (HS256/HS384/HS512 verify accepted an empty/nil HMAC key, filed 2026-05-13). ruby-jwt v3.2.0 added an `ensure_valid_key!` precondition that rejects empty keys at both sign and verify entry; joserfc has no equivalent. (The same primitive lives in the deprecated `authlib.jose` module by the same maintainer; filing this advisory against joserfc alongside a separate `authlib` advisory because the codebases are independent shipping artifacts on PyPI.) ### Affected versions `joserfc` (PyPI) `<= 1.6.7` (latest published release reproduces). No patched release. ### Privilege required Unauthenticated. Any HTTP / RPC endpoint that calls `joserfc.jwt.decode` with a verification key sourced from configuration is reachable. The condition that makes the bug observable is operator-side: the configured secret resolves to `""` or `None`. Common patterns that produce this state in production: - `OctKey.import_key(os.environ.get("JWT_SECRET", ""))` - A key finder callable that returns `""` / `None` for an unknown `kid` - Default values like `os.getenv("SECRET") or ""`, `cfg.get("secret", "")` - Database / Redis row lookup that returns `""` for a missing row ### Vulnerable code [`src/joserfc/_rfc7518/jws_algs.py:43-70`](https://github.com/authlib/joserfc/blob/1ddca8f3c73ff47e3bc3ac06cb0c08a9535677ec/src/joserfc/_rfc7518/jws_algs.py#L43-L70): ```python class HMACAlgorithm(JWSAlgModel): SHA256 = hashlib.sha256 SHA384 = hashlib.sha384 SHA512 = hashlib.sha512 def __init__(self, sha_type, recommended=False): self.name = f"HS{sha_type}" self.description = f"HMAC using SHA-{sha_type}" self.recommended = recommended self.hash_alg = getattr(self, f"SHA{sha_type}") self.algorithm_security = sha_type def sign(self, msg: bytes, key: OctKey) -> bytes: op_key = key.get_op_key("sign") return hmac.new(op_key, msg, self.hash_alg).digest() def verify(self, msg: bytes, sig: bytes, key: OctKey) -> bool: op_key = key.get_op_key("verify") v_sig = hmac.new(op_key, msg, self.hash_alg).digest() return hmac.compare_digest(sig, v_sig) ``` [`src/joserfc/_rfc7518/oct_key.py:52-63`](https://github.com/authlib/joserfc/blob/1ddca8f3c73ff47e3bc3ac06cb0c08a9535677ec/src/joserfc/_rfc7518/oct_key.py#L52-L63): ```python @classmethod def import_key(cls, value, parameters=None, password=None) -> "OctKey": key: OctKey = super(OctKey, cls).import_key(value, parameters, password) if len(key.raw_value) < 14: # https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-131a/rev-2/final warnings.warn("Key size should be >= 112 bits", SecurityWarning) return key ``` The `< 14` check only warns; `len(key.raw_value) == 0` falls through and is returned to the caller. `HMACAlgorithm.verify` then calls `hmac.compare_digest(sig, hmac.new(b"", signing_input, sha256).digest())`, and Python's `hmac.new(b"", ...)` accepts the empty key. Cross-language sibling of ruby-jwt's fix in [`lib/jwt/jwa/hmac.rb`](https://github.com/authlib/joserfc/blob/1ddca8f3c73ff47e3bc3ac06cb0c08a9535677ec/lib/jwt/jwa/hmac.rb): ```ruby def ensure_valid_key!(key) raise_verify_error!('HMAC key expected to be a String') unless key.is_a?(String) raise_verify_error!('HMAC key cannot be empty') if key.empty? end ``` invoked from both `sign(signing_key:)` and `verify(verification_key:)`. PyJWT landed an equivalent guard in 2.13.0 (`HMACAlgorithm.prepare_key` raises `InvalidKeyError("HMAC key must not be empty.")` for `len(key_bytes) == 0`). firebase/php-jwt rejects empty material in `Key.__construct`. jjwt enforces a 256-bit minimum in `DefaultMacAlgorithm.validateKey`. joserfc has the strongest existing length-warning logic but stops at `< 14 bytes` warn rather than `== 0` reject. ### How an empty `JWT_SECRET` reaches `hmac.new` 1. The application calls `joserfc.jwt.decode(value, key, algorithms=["HS256"])` where `key = OctKey.import_key("")` (or `OctKey.import_key(b"")`, or any custom path t
CVSS v4.0
Affected software
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AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
The joserfc Python library, which implements JSON Object Signing and Encryption (JOSE) standards, has an improper authentication vulnerability (CWE-287) in versions before 1.6.8. Specifically, the jwt.decode function accepts forged HMAC-signed tokens if the caller supplies an empty string or None as the verification key. This occurs because the HMACAlgorithm.sign and verify methods pass the output of OctKey.get_op_key(...) to hmac.new(...) without rejecting zero-length keys. OctKey.import_key only emits a SecurityWarning for keys shorter than 14 bytes but does not reject zero-length keys, allowing token forgery. The issue is resolved in joserfc version 1.6.8.
Potential Impact
An attacker can forge HMAC-signed JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) that the library will accept as valid if the verification key is empty or None. This can lead to bypassing authentication controls relying on token verification, potentially allowing unauthorized access or privilege escalation in applications using vulnerable versions of joserfc.
Mitigation Recommendations
Upgrade to joserfc version 1.6.8 or later, where this vulnerability is fixed by rejecting zero-length keys during HMAC verification. No other mitigations are indicated by the vendor advisory.
Technical Details
- Gcve Source
- db.gcve.eu
- Osv Id
- GHSA-gg9x-qcx2-xmrh
- Osv Schema Version
- 1.4.0
- Aliases
- ["CVE-2026-49852"]
- Ecosystems
- ["PyPI"]
- Database Specific Severity
- HIGH
- Cvss Version
- 4.0
Threat ID: 6a46ecbb27e9c7971943cddf
Added to database: 07/02/2026, 22:56:59 UTC
Last enriched: 07/25/2026, 21:00:14 UTC
Last updated: 10/19/2026, 06:48:17 UTC
Views: 209
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