GHSA-6wcg-mqvh-fcvg: Medium severity go/github.com/TecharoHQ/anubis vulnerability
Any HTTP client can bypass Anubis bot protection on the default configuration by adding a single request header. No challenge needs to be solved. Affected versions: v1.22.0 through v1.25.0 (introduced in commit d1d631a, PR #1015)
The root cause is in lib/policy/checker.go, PathChecker.Check(): go func (pc PathChecker) Check(r http.Request) (bool, error) { originalUrl := r.Header.Get("X-Original-URI") if originalUrl != "" { if pc.regexp.MatchString(originalUrl) { return true, nil } } if pc.regexp.MatchString(r.URL.Path) { return true, nil } return false, nil }
The header value comes directly from the client request. The middleware chain never strips it. In reverse proxy mode an attacker fully controls it. The default policy imports data/common/keep-internet-working.yaml, which contains path-only ALLOW rules with no other conditions:
yaml - name: well-known pathregex: ^/\.well-known/.$ action: ALLOW
When X-Original-URI matches one of those regexes, the rule fires as ALLOW and the request is forwarded upstream without any challenge or JWT check.
Proof of concept
Normal request, gets challenged: curl -s https://anubis.techaro.lol/ | grep -o "<title>.</title>"
Bypass, gets upstream content: curl -s -H "X-Original-URI: /.well-known/x" https://anubis.techaro.lol/ | grep -o "<title>.</title>"
The first command returns the Anubis challenge page title. The second returns the real site title directly, with no cookie set and no challenge issued. Verified live against anubis.techaro.lol.
Suggested fix The fix should probably be to strip the header from incoming client requests in the middleware chain before policy evaluation. In authrequest mode the header is set by the proxy after Anubis processes the middleware, so stripping it at ingress does not break that deployment mode.
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Upgrade
Upgrade
go/github.com/TecharoHQ/anubisto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 1.26.0 - Configuration
Strip the X-Original-URI header from incoming client requests in the middleware chain before policy evaluation. In auth_request mode, the proxy-set header remains available after Anubis processes the middleware.
Anubis middleware chain X-Original-URI = strip incoming client-supplied header
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
Which deployments are exposed without custom policy changes?
Deployments using the default policy are exposed because it imports data/common/keep-internet-working.yaml. That policy includes path-only ALLOW rules, including one for paths under /.well-known/.
What does an attacker need to bypass the protection?
An unauthenticated HTTP client only needs to send an X-Original-URI header whose value matches an allowed path regex. No Anubis challenge needs to be solved, and no JWT check is performed before the request is forwarded upstream.
Is reverse-proxy mode affected?
Yes. In reverse-proxy mode, the attacker fully controls the X-Original-URI header, and the middleware chain does not strip it before policy evaluation.