CVE-2026-76169

fastify vulnerable to authentication bypass via malformed URLs reaching encapsulated not-found handlers

Workarounds

Reject malformed request targets before they reach the application, for example at an upstream proxy or gateway, and do not rely on a not-found handler to serve protected data. A global onRequest authentication hook does not mitigate this, because the malformed-URL path skips it.

Fastify routes a malformed URL under one plugin prefix to the custom not-found handler of a different sibling plugin, invoking the handler registered last and skipping the preHandler declared in its setNotFoundHandler(). When the request method has no route in the main router, a malformed request target reaches Fastify's internal not-found router before URL decoding and is dispatched through a single shared handler pointer, regardless of prefix and without the normal request lifecycle. An unauthenticated request to a public prefix can therefore reach an authentication-protected not-found handler registered under a different prefix and receive its full response, breaking prefix encapsulation and bypassing the authentication hook. Applications whose private or tenant fallbacks return protected data from a not-found handler are affected.

CVE-2026-76169 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). 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 (5.12.2); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

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Patched in fastify 5.12.2. Malformed URLs are now routed through the configured onBadUrl and onMaxParamLength handlers so they fail closed before any application not-found handler runs, and the shared not-found handler pointer has been removed.

1. What is CVE-2026-76169? CVE-2026-76169 is a high-severity security vulnerability in fastify (npm), affecting versions >= 4.0.0, < 5.12.2. It is fixed in 5.12.2.
2. How severe is CVE-2026-76169? CVE-2026-76169 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). 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.
3. Which versions of fastify are affected by CVE-2026-76169? fastify (npm) versions >= 4.0.0, < 5.12.2 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2026-76169? Yes. CVE-2026-76169 is fixed in 5.12.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2026-76169 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-76169 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
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2026-76169 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.
7. How do I fix CVE-2026-76169? Upgrade fastify to 5.12.2 or later.

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