Summary
Description
Ory Oathkeeper is often deployed behind other components like CDNs, WAFs, or reverse proxies. Depending on the setup, another component might forward the request to the Oathkeeper proxy with a different protocol (http vs. https) than the original request. In order to properly match the request against the configured rules, Oathkeeper considers the X-Forwarded-Proto header when evaluating rules. The configuration option serve.proxy.trust_forwarded_headers (defaults to false) governs whether this and other X-Forwarded-* headers should be trusted. Oathkeeper did not properly respect this configuration, and would always consider the X-Forwarded-Proto header.
Preconditions
In order for an attacker to abuse this, an installation of Ory Oathkeeper needs to have distinct rules for HTTP and HTTPS requests. Also, the attacker needs to be able to trigger one but not the other rule. In this scenario, the attacker can send the same request but with the X-Forwarded-Proto header in order to trigger the other rule. We do not expect many configurations to meet these preconditions.
Mitigation
It is generally recommended to drop any unexpected headers as early as possible when a request is handled, e.g. in the WAF.
Ory Oathkeeper will correctly respect the serve.proxy.trust_forwarded_headers configuration going forward, thereby eliminating the attack scenario. We recommend upgrading to a fixed version even if the preconditions are not met.
Impact
The application does not perform an authorization check before performing a sensitive operation. Typical impact: unauthorized access to restricted functionality or data.
CVE-2026-33495 has a CVSS score of 6.5 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, no 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 (0.40.10-0.20260320084810-e9acca14a04d); 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.
Remediation advice
Kodem Kai can prioritize this vulnerability in your dependency tree and generate a fix recommendation.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-33495? CVE-2026-33495 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in github.com/ory/oathkeeper (go), affecting versions < 0.40.10-0.20260320084810-e9acca14a04d. It is fixed in 0.40.10-0.20260320084810-e9acca14a04d. The application does not perform an authorization check before performing a sensitive operation.
- How severe is CVE-2026-33495? CVE-2026-33495 has a CVSS score of 6.5 (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 github.com/ory/oathkeeper are affected by CVE-2026-33495? github.com/ory/oathkeeper (go) versions < 0.40.10-0.20260320084810-e9acca14a04d is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-33495? Yes. CVE-2026-33495 is fixed in 0.40.10-0.20260320084810-e9acca14a04d. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-33495 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-33495 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-2026-33495 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-2026-33495? Upgrade
github.com/ory/oathkeeperto 0.40.10-0.20260320084810-e9acca14a04d or later.