--- id: "CVE-2026-100349" kind: "vulnerability" aliases: ["CVE-2026-100349", "GHSA-74vm-87hj-r66f"] title: "kin-openapi openapi3filter: nil-pointer panic in ValidateResponse on a response header declared with content" severity: "high" cvss: 8.2 epss: 0.003710000077262521 exploited: false status: "open" category: "package" products: [{"name": "github.com/getkin/kin-openapi", "fixed": ["0.146.0"], "affected": "<= 0.145.0", "ecosystem": "go"}] ecosystems: ["go"] tags: ["api-gateway", "cwe-476", "go", "kin-openapi", "openapi", "package", "self-hosted"] not_affected_if: ["default-config", "no-content-typed-response-headers", "no-response-header-validation"] published_at: "2026-10-15T16:17:30+00:00" first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T19:11:32+00:00" updated_at: "2026-10-23T23:44:52+00:00" sources: [{"source": "ghsa", "url": "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-74vm-87hj-r66f", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T19:11:32+00:00"}, {"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-100349", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T23:44:52+00:00"}] --- # kin-openapi openapi3filter: nil-pointer panic in ValidateResponse on a response header declared with content kin-openapi's ValidateResponse panics with a nil pointer dereference when an OpenAPI spec declares a response header using content instead of schema, and doc.Validate accepts such a spec. An attacker gets a process crash (availability loss) on any call to that operation, but only if the attacker can supply or influence the spec; a team's own spec is triggered by any client hitting the route. _Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._ ## Affected - go:github.com/getkin/kin-openapi affected <= 0.145.0 fixed 0.146.0 ## How to check Search OpenAPI specs in use for response headers that define 'content:' rather than 'schema:' (e.g. grep -n -A3 'headers:' on spec files). Check the Go module version: go list -m github.com/getkin/kin-openapi; affected if <= v0.145.0. Write the PoC from the advisory as a test under openapi3filter/ and run it to confirm the panic. ## Fix Upgrade github.com/getkin/kin-openapi to v0.146.0 or later. Until then, change affected response headers to use 'schema' instead of 'content', or skip ValidateResponse for those operations. ## Timeline - 2026-10-23T19:11:32+00:00 ghsa https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-74vm-87hj-r66f - 2026-10-23T23:44:52+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-100349 ## From the sources ## Summary `ValidateResponse` panics on a nil pointer when a spec declares a response header with `content` instead of `schema`. `doc.Validate()` accepts that document, so the crash comes from a spec the library just called valid. Same class as GHSA-jpcw-4wr7-c3vq, which covered the request-parameter case in v0.144.0; this is the response-header path. Affects `github.com/getkin/kin-openapi` `<= v0.145.0`. Reproduced on master `947498e5a6bd`, Go 1.26. ## Details A `content`-typed response header has `headerRef.Value.Schema == nil`. `validate_response.go:181` passes it straight through: ```go if decodedValue, found, err = decodeValue(dec, headerName, sm, headerRef.Value.Schema, headerRef.Value.Required); err != nil { ``` and `req_resp_decoder.go:273` is where it lands: ```go if len(schema.Value.AllOf) > 0 { ``` Two things I checked rather than assumed. The response does not need to carry the header; declaring it is enough, and then every call for that operation panics. And the body path is fine, `:114` returns early on a nil schema, so this is headers only. The PoC keeps the body case as a control. ## PoC Drop into `openapi3filter/` and run: ``` go test ./openapi3filter/ -run NilSchema -v ``` ```go package openapi3filter_test import ( "context" "io" "net/http" "net/http/httptest" "strings" "testing" "github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/openapi3" "github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/openapi3filter" "github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/routers" ) const specBody = ` openapi: 3.0.3 info: {title: poc, version: "1.0.0"} paths: /x: get: responses: "200": description: ok content: application/json: {} ` const specHeader = ` openapi: 3.0.3 info: {title: poc, version: "1.0.0"} paths: /x: get: responses: "200": description: ok headers: X-Thing: content: application/json: {} ` func validatedInput(t *testing.T, spec string, hdr http.Header) *openapi3filter.ResponseValidationInput { t.Helper() doc, err := openapi3.NewLoader().LoadFromData([]byte(spec)) if err != nil { t.Fatalf("load: %v", err) } if err := doc.Validate(context.Background()); err != nil { t.Fatalf("doc.Validate rejected the spec, so this repro proves nothing: %v", err) } op := doc.Paths.Find("/x").Get req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/x", nil) return &openapi3filter.ResponseValidationInput{ RequestValidationInput: &openapi3filter.RequestValidationInput{ Request: req, Route: &routers.Route{Spec: doc, Operation: op, Method: http.MethodGet, Path: "/x"}, }, Status: 200, Header: hdr, Body: io.NopCloser(strings.NewReader(`{}`)), } } // Control: body path returns early on a nil schema. func TestControl_ResponseBodyNilSchema(t *testing.T) { in := validatedInput(t, specBody, http.Header{"Content-Type": {"application/json"}}) defer func() { if r := recover(); r != nil { t.Errorf("body path panicked, expected clean return: %v", r) } }() if err := openapi3filter.ValidateResponse(context.Background(), in); err != nil { t.Errorf("body path returned %v, expected nil", err) } } // The response does not carry X-Thing. Declaring the header is enough. func TestResponseHeaderNilSchema(t *testing.T) { in := validatedInput(t, specHeader, http.Header{"Content-Type": {"application/json"}}) if err := openapi3filter.ValidateResponse(context.Background(), in); err != nil { t.Fatalf("no panic; got err = %v (already fixed?)", err) } } ``` Output: ``` === RUN TestControl_ResponseBodyNilSchema --- PASS: TestControl_ResponseBodyNilSchema (0.00s) === RUN TestResponseHeaderNilSchema --- FAIL: TestResponseHeaderNilSchema (0.00s) panic: runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference [recovered, repanicked] [signal SIGSEGV: segmentation violation code=0x1 addr=0x20 pc=0x7f6d2a] github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/openapi3filter.decodeValue(...) /src/openapi3filter/req_resp_decoder.go:273 +0x4a github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/openapi3filter.validateResponseHeader(...) /src/openapi3filter/validate_response.go:181 +0x146 github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/openapi3filter.ValidateResponse(...) /src/openapi3filter/validate_response.go:89 +0xafa ``` The `FAIL` is the point: control passes, the header case takes the binary down. Ran in a container against a fresh clone of master. I have not tried it against a live proxy. ## Impact A process crash instead of an error return. Declaring the header is enough, so it is every call on that operation rather than an occasional one. If the spec comes from somewhere else -- gateways, linters, anything ingesting specs it did not write -- that is a trust boundary, and it becomes remote availability. If it is your own spec, nothing attacker-controlled starts it, but any client reaching that route then crashes the process. It fires on every call, so normally you would see it the first time that route runs. A spec edited without exercising the route is the case where you would not. That is the difference from GHSA-jpcw, where the attacker supplied the trigger. I have left severity unset; the two cases do not score the same. On how common it is, I checked rather than guessed. Of roughly 1,500 OpenAPI 3.x specs on apis.guru, one declares content-typed response headers -- VTEX Catalog API -- and not in one corner of it: the shape repeats across its operations, so for that consumer this is not an edge case. The header names in it (`X-AspNet-Version`, `p3p`, a few malformed ones) look like a generator emitting `content` where it could not infer a schema, and apis.guru only indexes public specs. There is no content-typed response header in this repo's testdata either. ## Workarounds Use `schema` on the response header, or skip `ValidateResponse` for those operations. `ExcludeResponseBody` will not do it -- headers are validated before that check. ## Suggested fix Nil-guard at the top of `decodeValue`: ```go if schema == nil { return nil, false, nil } ``` Returning nil leaves a `content`-typed header unvalidated rather than erroring, so it trades the crash for a silent gap. An error return kills the panic just as well if you would rather it surfaced. --- _Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_