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HIGH7.5

GHSA-9q9j-q6p8-xq58

fastify vulnerable to header validation bypass via incomplete schema case normalization

Quick fix

GHSA-9q9j-q6p8-xq58 — fastify: upgrade to the fixed version with the command below.

npm install fastify@5.12.2

Details

### Impact

Fastify lowercases header-schema property names before compiling the schema, because Node.js stores request header names in lowercase. That normalization was incomplete: it lowercased only top-level `properties` keys and the root `required` array, and did not lowercase the JSON Schema Draft 7 `dependencies` keyword (its trigger keys and dependent property names) or names in nested subschemas. As a result, a header schema that uses `dependencies` to require one header when another is present (for example `X-Admin` requiring `X-Admin-Token`) never matches the lowercased request headers, so the dependency assertion is silently skipped. An unauthenticated remote client can send the header that activates a privileged path while omitting the header the dependency was meant to require, bypassing a schema-enforced security control. The header schema is idiomatic, valid JSON Schema Draft 7, and no custom validator, malformed request, or misconfiguration is required.

### Patches

Header-schema names are now normalized across all schema positions (`properties`, `required`, `dependencies`, `dependentRequired`, `dependentSchemas`, and nested subschemas). Patched in fastify `5.12.2`. The fix is also included in the `6.0.0` release. Header schemas referenced through an external shared `$ref` (registered with `addSchema`) are not reached by this normalization and now emit an `FSTSEC002` startup warning; inline the header schema to keep case-insensitive assertions in effect.

### Workarounds

If upgrading is not immediately possible, write header-schema names in lowercase so the `dependencies` and other case-sensitive assertions match Node's lowercased request headers, or enforce the cross-header requirement in an `onRequest` or `preValidation` hook instead of the schema.

Are you affected?

Enter the version of the package you're using.

Affected packages

npm/fastify
Introduced in: 0Fixed in: 5.12.2
Fixnpm install fastify@5.12.2

References