# CVE-2023-45803: Request body not stripped after redirect in urllib3 > Attackers can read sensitive request body data if a trusted service is compromised and redirects POST requests to GET without stripping the body. - **Severity:** Medium 4.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`) - **Exploited in the wild:** Not known - **Login needed:** An administrator - **Attackable:** Local or same network only - **Victim action needed:** Not needed - **Fix available:** Yes - **Published:** 17 Oct 2023 - **Updated:** 3 Nov 2025 - **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2023-45803, ALSA-2024:11189, ALSA-2024:11238, AZL-31615, AZL-35445, AZL-35785, AZL-59705, BELL-CVE-2023-45803, CLEANSTART-2026-VT55375, CLEANSTART-2026-YT82124, CLSA-2025-1760659967, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-45803, DLA-3649-1, GHSA-g4mx-q9vg-27p4, MINI-5rjr-hqv9-7279, MINI-p63p-h2mx-9fj5, OESA-2023-1840, PYSEC-2023-212, RHBA-2024:1420, RHSA-2024:11189, RHSA-2024:11238, RHSA-2024:2734, RHSA-2025:0078, RHSA-2025:1793, RHSA-2025:1813, RLSA-2024:11189, RLSA-2024:11238, ROOT-APP-PYPI-CVE-2023-45803, SUSE-SU-2023:4356-1, SUSE-SU-2023:4467-1, SUSE-SU-2023:4468-1, SUSE-SU-2024:2462-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-45803, openSUSE-SU-2024:13343-1, openSUSE-SU-2024:13344-1 ## What is CVE-2023-45803? CVE-2023-45803 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 17 Oct 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim. ### Official description urllib3 is a user-friendly HTTP client library for Python. urllib3 previously wouldn't remove the HTTP request body when an HTTP redirect response using status 301, 302, or 303 after the request had its method changed from one that could accept a request body (like `POST`) to `GET` as is required by HTTP RFCs. Although this behavior is not specified in the section for redirects, it can be inferred by piecing together information from different sections and we have observed the behavior in other major HTTP client implementations like curl and web browsers. Because the vulnerability requires a previously trusted service to become compromised in order to have an impact on confidentiality we believe the exploitability of this vulnerability is low. Additionally, many users aren't putting sensitive data in HTTP request bodies, if this is the case then this vulnerability isn't exploitable. Both of the following conditions must be true to be affected by this vulnerability: 1. Using urllib3 and submitting sensitive information in the HTTP request body (such as form data or JSON) and 2. The origin service is compromised and starts redirecting using 301, 302, or 303 to a malicious peer or the redirected-to service becomes compromised. This issue has been addressed in versions 1.26.18 and 2.0.7 and users are advised to update to resolve this issue. Users unable to update should disable redirects for services that aren't expecting to respond with redirects with `redirects=False` and disable automatic redirects with `redirects=False` and handle 301, 302, and 303 redirects manually by stripping the HTTP request body. Weakness: CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-45803? 5 open source packages ship an affected version, including urllib3. It affects 2 products. | Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `urllib3` | PyPI | All versions | 1.26.18 | | `urllib3` | PyPI | All versions | 1.26.18 | | `urllib3` | PyPI | From 2.0.0 | 2.0.7, 1.26.18 | | `urllib3` | PyPI | From 2.0.0 | 2.0.7 | | `urllib3` | PyPI | From 2.0.0 | 2.0.7 | | `python3.11-urllib3` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.26.12-5.el8_10 | | `python3.11-urllib3` | AlmaLinux:9 | All versions | 1.26.12-2.el9_5.2 | | `python3.11-urllib3` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.26.12-5.el8_10 | | `python3.11-urllib3` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 0:1.26.12-2.el9_5.2 | | `python-urllib3` | Red Hat:openstack:17.1::el8 | All versions | 0:1.25.10-6.el8ost | | `python3-urllib3` | Red Hat:openstack:17.1::el8 | All versions | 0:1.25.10-6.el8ost | | `python3.11-urllib3` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.26.12-1.el8_8.2 | | `resource-agents` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.8::highavailability | All versions | 0:4.9.0-40.el8_8.2 | | `resource-agents-aliyun` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.8::highavailability | All versions | 0:4.9.0-40.el8_8.2 | | `resource-agents-aliyun-debuginfo` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.8::highavailability | All versions | 0:4.9.0-40.el8_8.2 | | `resource-agents-debuginfo` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.8::highavailability | All versions | 0:4.9.0-40.el8_8.2 | | `resource-agents-debugsource` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.8::highavailability | All versions | 0:4.9.0-40.el8_8.2 | | `resource-agents-gcp` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.8::highavailability | All versions | 0:4.9.0-40.el8_8.2 | | `resource-agents-paf` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.8::highavailability | All versions | 0:4.9.0-40.el8_8.2 | | `resource-agents` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.8::resilientstorage | All versions | 0:4.9.0-40.el8_8.2 | | `resource-agents-aliyun` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.8::resilientstorage | All versions | 0:4.9.0-40.el8_8.2 | | `resource-agents-aliyun-debuginfo` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.8::resilientstorage | All versions | 0:4.9.0-40.el8_8.2 | | `resource-agents-debuginfo` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.8::resilientstorage | All versions | 0:4.9.0-40.el8_8.2 | | `resource-agents-debugsource` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.8::resilientstorage | All versions | 0:4.9.0-40.el8_8.2 | | `resource-agents-gcp` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.8::resilientstorage | All versions | 0:4.9.0-40.el8_8.2 | | `resource-agents-paf` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.8::resilientstorage | All versions | 0:4.9.0-40.el8_8.2 | | `python3.11-urllib3` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.2::appstream | All versions | 0:1.26.12-1.el9_2.1 | | `python3.11-urllib3` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.4::appstream | All versions | 0:1.26.12-2.el9_4.2 | | `python3.11-urllib3` | Rocky Linux:8 | All versions | 0:1.26.12-5.el8_10 | | `python3.11-urllib3` | Rocky Linux:9 | All versions | 0:1.26.12-2.el9_5.2 | | `python-urllib3` | SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8 | All versions | 1.25.10-5.25.1 | | `python-urllib3` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.1 | All versions | 1.25.10-150300.4.9.1 | | `python-urllib3` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 | All versions | 1.25.10-150300.4.9.1 | | `python-urllib3` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | All versions | 1.25.10-150300.4.9.1 | | `python-urllib3` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | All versions | 1.25.10-150300.4.9.1 | | `python-urllib3` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | All versions | 1.25.10-150300.4.9.1 | | `python-urllib3` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | All versions | 1.25.10-150300.4.9.1 | | `python-urllib3` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP4 | All versions | 1.25.10-150300.4.9.1 | | `python-urllib3` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 | All versions | 1.25.10-150300.4.9.1 | | `python-urllib3` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 12 | All versions | 1.25.10-3.37.1 | Products: Fedoraproject Fedora, Python Urllib3. ## How do I fix CVE-2023-45803? Upgrade urllib3 to a fixed version for your release line: 1.26.18 or 2.0.7. ## Is CVE-2023-45803 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-45803 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Other vulnerabilities in Fedoraproject Fedora - [CVE-2024-4577](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4577/): PHP-CGI OS Command Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2021-39226](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-39226/): Grafana Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2019-5544](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5544/): VMware ESXi and Horizon DaaS OpenSLP Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2024-4947](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4947/): Google Chromium V8 Type Confusion (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2024-4671](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4671/): Google Chromium Visuals Use-After-Free (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2023-45803 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2023-45803 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 17 Oct 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim. Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-45803 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected packages and fixed versions: - urllib3 (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 1.26.18 - urllib3 (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 1.26.18 - urllib3 (PyPI): affected from 2.0.0; fixed in 2.0.7, 1.26.18 - urllib3 (PyPI): affected from 2.0.0; fixed in 2.0.7 - urllib3 (PyPI): affected from 2.0.0; fixed in 2.0.7 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-2023-45803/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-45803/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-45803 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-45803 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-45803 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-45803/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.