REDHAT-BUG-2490000: Medium severity npm/undici vulnerability
Impact: Undici's cache interceptor incorrectly classifies some responses as cacheable when the upstream Cache-Control header uses whitespace-padded qualified private or no-cache field names such as private=" authorization" or no-cache="\tauthorization". The parser preserves the surrounding whitespace, so later comparisons against the literal authorization field name fail and the response is stored.
In shared-cache mode, this allows a response containing one user's authenticated data to be served from cache to a subsequent caller, including an unauthenticated caller, when both requests resolve to the same cache key.
Affected applications are those that explicitly enable the cache interceptor (interceptors.cache()) in shared mode, forward Authorization headers upstream, and receive cacheable responses with non-canonical qualified private or no-cache directives.
Patches: Upgrade to undici v7.28.0 or v8.5.0.
Workarounds: If upgrade is not immediately possible, disable shared-cache mode for traffic that includes Authorization headers, avoid caching responses to authenticated requests, or add Vary: Authorization upstream.
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Upgrade
Upgrade
undicito a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 7.28.0 - Upgrade
Upgrade
undicito a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 8.5.0 - Configuration
If upgrade is not immediately possible, disable shared-cache mode for traffic that includes Authorization headers.
Undici cache interceptor (interceptors.cache()) shared-cache mode for requests with Authorization headers = disabled - Configuration
If upgrade is not immediately possible, avoid caching responses to authenticated requests (i.e., requests that include Authorization headers).
Undici cache interceptor (interceptors.cache()) caching of responses to authenticated requests = avoid caching - Configuration
If upgrade is not immediately possible, add the Vary: Authorization header upstream so caches key the response on the Authorization header.
Upstream responses Vary header (Vary: Authorization) = add/ensure Vary: Authorization
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the severity of REDHAT-BUG-2490000?
The severity of REDHAT-BUG-2490000 is medium, rated as 4.
What is the impact of REDHAT-BUG-2490000?
The impact of REDHAT-BUG-2490000 is that Undici's cache interceptor may incorrectly classify certain responses as cacheable due to whitespace-padded Cache-Control headers.
How do I fix REDHAT-BUG-2490000?
To fix REDHAT-BUG-2490000, ensure that upstream Cache-Control headers do not contain whitespace-padded qualified field names.
Which software is affected by REDHAT-BUG-2490000?
The software affected by REDHAT-BUG-2490000 is npm/undici.
When was REDHAT-BUG-2490000 published?
REDHAT-BUG-2490000 was published on June 17, 2026.