VulnerabilityPublished 22 Oct 2026Updated 30 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-114616: Prior to 1.9.1, Authlib's OctKey.import_key() and HMAC signing and verification path accept

Affects authlibSource GCVE Database

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Authoritative record:CVE-2026-114616· High 7.4

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.4 High : upgrade to 1.9.1 soon.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:52 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.4High

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

Thin evidence

One scorer or none

CVSS scores by source
CNA (GitHub_M)	CVSS 3.1	7.4

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 11% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 1.9.1

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: High
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
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: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
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: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to 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 22 Oct 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 30 Oct 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 authlib to 1.9.1.

Patches and advisories

github.com/authlib/authlib/commit/4ff30db442c70e29486e1982cb0ad37c037f5f4b (opens in a new tab)

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
PyPIauthlib`pkg:pypi/authlib`Other threats	Affected <1.9.1	Fixed in 1.9.1

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

AI-suggested

Upgrade Authlib to version 1.9.1 or later, where this vulnerability is fixed. Do not rely on empty or zero-length keys for HMAC signing. Verify that secret key retrieval mechanisms never return empty strings or empty bytes.

Description

Authlib versions prior to 1.9.1 contain a critical vulnerability in the OctKey.import_key() and HMAC signing and verification path that allows zero-length key material. This flaw permits a remote attacker to generate valid HS256, HS384, or HS512 signatures for arbitrary token claims if the application's secret lookup returns an empty string or empty bytes. The vulnerability is fixed in Authlib version 1.9.1.

Impact

An attacker can forge valid HMAC signatures on tokens without knowing a secret key if the application allows empty keys, leading to token forgery and authentication bypass. This compromises confidentiality and integrity of token-based authentication, enabling unauthorized access.

Summary

Authlib, a Python library for OAuth and OpenID Connect servers, has a critical vulnerability (CVE-2026-114616) in versions before 1.9.1 where the OctKey.import_key() and HMAC signing and verification accept zero-length keys. This allows an attacker to deterministically compute valid HMAC signatures (HS256, HS384, HS512) for arbitrary tokens if the secret key is empty, effectively bypassing authentication. The issue is resolved in version 1.9.1.

References

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