Summary
Keycloak proxy header handling Denial-of-Service (DoS) vulnerability
Keycloak versions 26 and earlier are vulnerable to a denial-of-service (DoS) attack through improper handling of proxy headers. When Keycloak is configured to accept incoming proxy headers, it may accept non-IP values, such as obfuscated identifiers, without proper validation. This can lead to costly DNS resolution operations, which an attacker could exploit to tie up IO threads and potentially cause a denial of service.
The attacker must have access to send requests to a Keycloak instance that is configured to accept proxy headers, specifically when reverse proxies do not overwrite incoming headers, and Keycloak is configured to trust these headers.
For Keycloak version 26, for successful exploitation includes: the realm must have SslRequired=EXTERNAL (the default), HTTP must be enabled, the instance must not be using a full hostname URL, access must come from behind a proxy (assuming the proxy overwrites the X-Forwarded-For header), and trusted proxies must not be set or must incorrectly trust the client from which the request is originating.
Impact
CVE-2024-9666 has a CVSS score of 4.7 (Medium). The vector is requires local access, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (26.0.6); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2024-9666? CVE-2024-9666 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in org.keycloak:keycloak-quarkus-server (maven), affecting versions < 24.0.9. It is fixed in 26.0.6.
- How severe is CVE-2024-9666? CVE-2024-9666 has a CVSS score of 4.7 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of org.keycloak:keycloak-quarkus-server are affected by CVE-2024-9666? org.keycloak:keycloak-quarkus-server (maven) versions < 24.0.9 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2024-9666? Yes. CVE-2024-9666 is fixed in 26.0.6. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2024-9666 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2024-9666 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2024-9666 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2024-9666? Upgrade
org.keycloak:keycloak-quarkus-serverto 26.0.6 or later.