Bug 2459390 (CVE-2026-40490) - CVE-2026-40490 async-http-client: AsyncHttpClient: Credential leakage via improper handling of authorization headers during redirects
Summary: CVE-2026-40490 async-http-client: AsyncHttpClient: Credential leakage via imp...
Keywords:
Status: NEW
Alias: CVE-2026-40490
Product: Security Response
Classification: Other
Component: vulnerability
Version: unspecified
Hardware: All
OS: Linux
medium
medium
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Product Security DevOps Team
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Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2026-04-18 02:01 UTC by OSIDB Bzimport
Modified: 2026-04-20 11:37 UTC (History)
26 users (show)

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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-04-18 02:01:19 UTC
The AsyncHttpClient (AHC) library allows Java applications to easily execute HTTP requests and asynchronously process HTTP responses. When redirect following is enabled (followRedirect(true)), versions of AsyncHttpClient prior to 3.0.9 and 2.14.5 forward Authorization and Proxy-Authorization headers along with Realm credentials to arbitrary redirect targets regardless of domain, scheme, or port changes. This leaks credentials on cross-domain redirects and HTTPS-to-HTTP downgrades. Additionally, even when stripAuthorizationOnRedirect is set to true, the Realm object containing plaintext credentials is still propagated to the redirect request, causing credential re-generation for Basic and Digest authentication schemes via NettyRequestFactory. An attacker who controls a redirect target (via open redirect, DNS rebinding, or MITM on HTTP) can capture Bearer tokens, Basic auth credentials, or any other Authorization header value. The fix in versions 3.0.9 and 2.14.5 automatically strips Authorization and Proxy-Authorization headers and clears Realm credentials whenever a redirect crosses origin boundaries (different scheme, host, or port) or downgrades from HTTPS to HTTP. For users unable to upgrade, set `(stripAuthorizationOnRedirect(true))` in the client config and avoid using Realm-based authentication with redirect following enabled. Note that `(stripAuthorizationOnRedirect(true))` alone is insufficient on versions prior to 3.0.9 and 2.14.5 because the Realm bypass still re-generates credentials. Alternatively, disable redirect following (`followRedirect(false)`) and handle redirects manually with origin validation.


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