CVE-2026-88008Authentication and Middleware Bypass in Traefik via h2c
Traefik is an open source HTTP reverse proxy and load balancer. From 2.11.26 until 2.11.57 and 3.7.13, Traefik forwards a client-supplied Connection header requesting Upgrade, the Upgrade: h2c token, and HTTP2-Settings to a shared backend. If the backend accepts h2c and returns 101 Switching Protocols, Traefik enters a raw tunnel and no longer applies routers, BasicAuth, ForwardAuth, IPAllowList, RateLimit, access logging, metrics, or tracing to later HTTP/2 requests, allowing an unauthenticated request through an unprotected route to reach protected paths on the same backend. This issue is fixed in 2.11.57 and 3.7.13.
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Traefik versions prior to 2.11.57 and 3.7.13 are vulnerable to a middleware bypass. By requesting an h2c upgrade, an attacker can trick Traefik into creating a raw tunnel, skipping all security controls like BasicAuth, ForwardAuth, and IPAllowList for subsequent requests to the backend.
Relevant roles
Severity
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:NCWE-444CWE-863EPSS
Affects
traefik:traefikTechnical description
Traefik is an open source HTTP reverse proxy and load balancer. From 2.11.26 until 2.11.57 and 3.7.13, Traefik forwards a client-supplied Connection header requesting Upgrade, the Upgrade: h2c token, and HTTP2-Settings to a shared backend. If the backend accepts h2c and returns 101 Switching Protocols, Traefik enters a raw tunnel and no longer applies routers, BasicAuth, ForwardAuth, IPAllowList, RateLimit, access logging, metrics, or tracing to later HTTP/2 requests, allowing an unauthenticated request through an unprotected route to reach protected paths on the same backend. This issue is fixed in 2.11.57 and 3.7.13.
References
- https://github.com/traefik/traefik/commit/a277e94664ffc1ce9543df552d3bbf48d4d3b8b3
- https://github.com/traefik/traefik/pull/13797
- https://github.com/traefik/traefik/releases/tag/v2.11.57
- https://github.com/traefik/traefik/releases/tag/v3.7.13
- https://github.com/traefik/traefik/security/advisories/GHSA-w4v4-9rw7-5326