CVE-2026-5119
Description
A flaw was found in libsoup. When establishing HTTPS tunnels through a configured HTTP proxy, sensitive session cookies are transmitted in cleartext within the initial HTTP CONNECT request. A network-positioned attacker or a malicious HTTP proxy can intercept these cookies, leading to potential session hijacking or user impersonation.
Statement
Moderate impact. This flaw in libsoup allows sensitive session cookies to be transmitted in cleartext within the initial HTTP CONNECT request when establishing HTTPS tunnels through a configured HTTP proxy. A network-positioned attacker or a malicious HTTP proxy could intercept these cookies, potentially leading to session hijacking or user impersonation. This affects Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems configured to use an HTTP proxy for HTTPS connections.
Mitigation
To mitigate this issue, ensure that all HTTP proxies used for HTTPS tunnels are trusted and operate within a secure network. Avoid configuring applications to use untrusted HTTP proxies. If feasible, configure applications to bypass proxies for sensitive connections or utilize a secure proxy solution that encrypts the entire communication channel. A service restart or application reload may be required for changes to take effect.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 5.9 | 8.2 | 5.9 |
| Attack Vector | Network | Network | Network |
| Attack Complexity | High | Low | High |
| Privileges Required | None | None | None |
| User Interaction | Required | None | Required |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High | High | High |
| Integrity Impact | Low | Low | Low |
| Availability Impact | None | None | None |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity,Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Application Data; Modify Files or Directories
Anyone can read the information by gaining access to the channel being used for communication. Many communication channels can be "sniffed" (monitored) by adversaries during data transmission. For example, in networking, packets can traverse many intermediary nodes from the source to the destination, whether across the internet, an internal network, the cloud, etc. Some actors might have privileged access to a network interface or any link along the channel, such as a router, but they might not be authorized to collect the underlying data. As a result, network traffic could be sniffed by adversaries, spilling security-critical data.
Integrity,Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Application Data; Modify Files or Directories; Other
When full communications are recorded or logged, such as with a packet dump, an adversary could attempt to obtain the dump long after the transmission has occurred and try to "sniff" the cleartext from the recorded communications in the dump itself. Even if the information is encoded in a way that is not human-readable, certain techniques could determine which encoding is being used, then decode the information.
Acknowledgements
Red Hat would like to thank Kona Arctic for reporting this issue.
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