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connect-xcors EUVDEUVD-2026-88239

| CVE-2026-18825 MEDIUM
Origin Validation Error (CWE-346)
2026-09-28 TCS-CERT GHSA-8f76-923c-xvfq
5.3
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: TCS-CERT
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Lure authenticated victim to attacker page
  2. Delivery
    Browser issues cross-origin credentialed request
  3. Exploit
    Middleware fails Origin validation
  4. Execution
    Cross-domain response read or action performed
  5. Impact
    Limited data/state disclosure or modification

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A07:2025 - Authentication Failures
ASVS 5.0
V6 - Authentication Origin validation
Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires: (1) a target application using the connect-cors/connect-xcors middleware to enforce origin-based access control; (2) a victim who is already authenticated (has an active credentialed session) to that application; and (3) passive user interaction (UI:P) - the victim must visit or load attacker-controlled web content that triggers the cross-origin request. Impact is limited to Low confidentiality and Low integrity (no availability impact), and success depends on the browser sending credentials cross-origin, so the practical blast radius is bounded to whatever the vulnerable app exposes to authenticated CORS requests. No special server configuration is stated beyond use of the vulnerable middleware for origin checks.

Impact

Low-to-moderate real-world risk. The vendor CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N) scores 5.3, reflecting a network-reachable, low-complexity, unauthenticated flaw that nonetheless requires passive user interaction (UI:P) and yields only Low confidentiality/integrity impact. No EPSS score, no CISA KEV listing, and no public exploit are present in the input, so exploitation status is: no public exploit identified at time of analysis. There is no SSVC decision data provided. Signals are internally consistent (a CORS/origin bypass is genuinely network-borne but user-interaction-gated and limited in impact), so this is a real-but-low-priority issue rather than a high-CVSS/low-risk mismatch. Two data caveats must be stated explicitly: the affected-package name conflicts across sources - the Description names 'connect-xcors' while the CPE names 'connect-cors' (github.com/antono) - verify the exact package with the reporter; and the 'Authentication Bypass' tag overstates the mechanism, which is CWE-346 Origin Validation Error, not an authentication bypass.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker hosts a malicious web page and lures a victim who is authenticated to a Node.js/Connect application that uses the connect-cors (a.k.a. connect-xcors) middleware. Because the middleware fails to properly validate the request Origin, the attacker's page issues a cross-domain request that the browser sends with the victim's credentials, and the flawed middleware allows the response to be read or the action to proceed across origins. No public proof-of-concept is referenced; UI:P indicates the victim must merely visit or interact passively with attacker-controlled content.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
No patch listed yet 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Sep 28, 2026

Cross-domain authenticated request bypass in the connect-xcors (connect-cors) Node.js middleware lets an attacker defeat origin verification so that a victim's browser issues credentialed cross-origin requests the application would otherwise reject. The flaw is remotely reachable without attacker authentication (CVSS 4.0 PR:N) but requires the victim to be logged in to the affected application and to load attacker-controlled web content (UI:P); impact is bounded to low confidentiality and low integrity with no availability effect, giving low-to-moderate real-world risk. No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, and no CISA KEV entry exists for this CVE.

RemediationAI

No vendor-released patch or fixed version has been identified at time of analysis, so remediation must currently be compensatory. The most direct action is to stop relying on connect-xcors/connect-cors for origin enforcement: remove or replace the middleware with an actively maintained CORS implementation and validate the Origin header against an explicit, exact-match allowlist, rejecting requests whose Origin is missing, null, or not an exact case-insensitive match, and never reflecting arbitrary Origin values back in Access-Control-Allow-Origin. Where credentialed cross-origin access is not required, disable Access-Control-Allow-Credentials and avoid combining it with any wildcard or pattern-based origin matching (the trade-off is that legitimate cross-origin clients using credentials will break and must be migrated to same-site or token-based calls). Harden session handling by setting session cookies to SameSite=Lax or Strict and, where Lax is needed for navigation flows, add per-request CSRF tokens or required custom headers on state-changing endpoints so a forged cross-origin request cannot authenticate; note that SameSite=Strict can disrupt inbound-link and OAuth redirect flows. Because exploitation requires a logged-in victim to load attacker content, monitor and restrict exposure of authenticated endpoints that mutate state, and re-check the TCS-CERT advisory at https://cds.thalesgroup.com/en/tcs-cert/CVE-2026-18825 for an updated patched release before deciding when the middleware can be reinstated.

Affected VersionsENISA

connect-cors 0 ≤0.5.6

Affected Packages

euvd connect_cors no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The issue is an origin validation error (CWE-346) inside the middleware component of the connect-xcors npm package, a Connect/Express-style middleware layer that performs CORS origin checking for Node.js applications. Because the middleware is responsible for deciding whether a cross-origin request is trusted, faulty validation logic in it allows a request whose Origin does not match the application's allowlist to be treated as legitimate, including when the browser automatically attaches the victim's cookies (cross-domain authenticated request). The CPE designation cpe:2.3:a:github.com/antono:connect-cors:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* ties the affected component to the antono connect-cors package lineage with an unconstrained version wildcard, indicating all released versions of the middleware as distributed are considered affected; note that the advisory text refers to the package as connect-xcors while the CPE uses connect-cors, so both names should be treated as referring to the same middleware family. The assessed CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N) confirms the attacker needs no credentials on the server side and that the exploit chain depends on a victim's active session plus passive user interaction, with no scope change and no availability impact.

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Severity by source

Vendor (TCS-CERT) PRIMARY 5.3 MEDIUM
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
vuln.today AI 5.4 MEDIUM

Network-reachable origin bypass needing a victim to load attacker content (UI:R) and no attacker auth (PR:N); impact limited to Low confidentiality and integrity, no availability.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (TCS-CERT).

CVSS VectorVendor: TCS-CERT

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
Passive
Vulnerable system: Confidentiality
Low
Vulnerable system: Integrity
Low
Vulnerable system: Availability
None
Subsequent system: Confidentiality
None
Subsequent system: Integrity
None
Subsequent system: Availability
None

DescriptionCVE.org

An Origin Validation Error in the middleware of the connect-xcors npm package allows an attacker to bypass origin verification and perform a cross domain authenticated request.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 94% exploitable
Prevalence
Rare
obscure, largely abandoned Connect-era CORS middleware npm package
Data Quality
5 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

26
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +26
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.

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