# CVE-2019-18802: Security feature bypass in n/a

> Attackers can bypass host-based routing rules in Envoy by adding whitespace to HTTP headers, potentially accessing restricted services.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 13 Dec 2019
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-356m-vhw2-wcm4, GHSA-fx83-72pw-c56f, MGASA-2020-0147, SUSE-SU-2020:0722-1, openSUSE-SU-2020:0379-1, openSUSE-SU-2021:0341-1, openSUSE-SU-2024:14491-1

## What is CVE-2019-18802?

CVE-2019-18802 is a critical vulnerability in Envoyproxy Envoy, published on 13 Dec 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An issue was discovered in Envoy 1.12.0. An untrusted remote client may send an HTTP header (such as Host) with whitespace after the header content. Envoy will treat "header-value " as a different string from "header-value" so for example with the Host header "example.com " one could bypass "example.com" matchers.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-18802?

It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `nghttp2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP1 | All versions | 1.40.0-3.6.3 |
| `nghttp2` | openSUSE:Leap 15.1 | All versions | 1.40.0-lp151.3.6.1 |
| `nghttp2-python` | openSUSE:Leap 15.1 | All versions | 1.40.0-lp151.3.6.1 |
| `nghttp2` | openSUSE:Leap 15.2 | All versions | 1.40.0-lp152.2.3.1 |
| `nghttp2-python` | openSUSE:Leap 15.2 | All versions | 1.40.0-lp152.2.3.1 |
| `nghttp2` | openSUSE:Tumbleweed | All versions | 1.64.0-1.1 |

Products: Envoyproxy Envoy.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-18802?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2019-18802 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-18802 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Envoyproxy Envoy

- [CVE-2022-29226](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-29226/): Trivial authentication bypass in Envoy (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2019-18801](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-18801/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-35470](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-35470/): Information disclosure in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2024-23324](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-23324/): Envoy ext auth can be bypassed when Proxy protocol filter sets invalid UTF-8 metadata (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2023-35941](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-35941/): Envoy vulnerable to OAuth2 credentials exploit with permanent validity (high 8.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-18802 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-18802 is a critical vulnerability in Envoyproxy Envoy, published on 13 Dec 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-18802 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Envoyproxy Envoy. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-18802/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-18802/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-18802
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-18802
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-18802

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-18802/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.