@fastify/middie versions 9.3.1 and earlier do not register inherited middleware directly on child plugin engine instances. When a Fastify application registers authentication middleware in a parent scope and then registers child plugins with @fastify/middie, the child scope does not inherit the parent middleware. This allows unauthenticated requests to reach routes defined in child plugin scopes, bypassing authentication and authorization checks. Upgrade to @fastify/middie 9.3.2 to fix this issue. There are no workarounds.
@fastify/middie versions 9.3.1 and earlier are vulnerable to middleware bypass when the deprecated Fastify ignoreDuplicateSlashes option is enabled. The middleware path matching logic does not account for duplicate slash normalization performed by Fastify's router, allowing requests with duplicate slashes to bypass middleware authentication and authorization checks. This only affects applications using the deprecated ignoreDuplicateSlashes option. Upgrade to @fastify/middie 9.3.2 to fix this issue. There are no workarounds other than disabling the ignoreDuplicateSlashes option.
@fastify/middie versions 9.1.0 through 9.3.2 decode the encoded slash %2F inside path parameter values before matching middleware paths, while Fastify's underlying router preserves the encoding during route lookup. The two layers disagree on the canonical request path, so the middleware fails to match a URL that the route handler does match. When middleware is used for authentication, authorization, rate limiting, or auditing on parameterized paths, an attacker can reach the protected handler by sending a single crafted URL with an encoded slash in the parameter position. The bypass is HTTP method agnostic and requires no authentication or special preconditions. Patches: upgrade to @fastify/middie 9.3.3. Workarounds: avoid parameterized middleware paths for security decisions, or enforce authentication at the route handler or via a Fastify hook that runs after the router has resolved the request.
@fastify/middie is the plugin that adds middleware support on steroids to Fastify. A security vulnerability exists in @fastify/middie prior to version 9.1.0 where middleware registered with a specific path prefix can be bypassed using URL-encoded characters (e.g., /%61dmin instead of /admin). While the middleware engine fails to match the encoded path and skips execution, the underlying Fastify router correctly decodes the path and matches the route handler, allowing attackers to access protected endpoints without the middleware constraints. Version 9.1.0 fixes the issue.
Summary A path normalization inconsistency in @fastify/middie can result in authentication/authorization bypass when using path-scoped middleware (for example, app.use('/secret', auth)).
When Fastify router normalization options are enabled (such as ignoreDuplicateSlashes, useSemicolonDelimiter, and related trailing-slash behavior), crafted request paths may bypass middleware checks while still being routed to protected handlers.
Impact An unauthenticated remote attacker can access endpoints intended to be protected by middleware-based auth/authorization controls by sending specially crafted URL paths (for example, //secret or /secret;foo=bar), depending on router option configuration.
This may lead to unauthorized access to protected functionality and data exposure.
Affected versions - Confirmed affected: @fastify/middie@9.1.0 - All versions prior to the patch are affected.
Patched versions - Fixed in: 9.2.0
Details The issue is caused by canonicalization drift between: 1. @fastify/middie path matching for app.use('/prefix', ...), and 2. Fastify/find-my-way route lookup normalization.
Because middleware and router did not always evaluate the same normalized path, auth middleware could be skipped while route resolution still succeeded.
Workarounds Until patched version is deployed: - Avoid relying solely on path-scoped middie guards for auth/authorization. - Enforce auth at route-level handlers/hooks after router normalization. - Disable risky normalization combinations only if operationally feasible.
Resources - Fluid Attacks Disclosure Policy: https://fluidattacks.com/advisories/policy - Fluid Attacks advisory URL: https://fluidattacks.com/advisories/jimenez
Credits - Cristian Vargas (Fluid Attacks Research Team) — discovery and report. - Oscar Uribe (Fluid Attacks) — coordination and disclosure.
@fastify/middie versions 9.1.0 through 9.3.2 fail to guard the URL normalization step used by the standalone engine when incoming request paths contain malformed percent-encoded sequences. Inputs such as an incomplete percent escape or a truncated multibyte sequence cause the underlying decoder to throw synchronously, and the exception escapes the middie normalize step and terminates the Node.js process. The bypass affects applications that call middie.run directly on the standalone engine API, causing an immediate denial of service for all connected clients until restart. Applications using the Fastify plugin path are not affected because Fastifys error handler catches the exception. Patches: upgrade to @fastify/middie 9.3.3. Workarounds: migrate from the standalone engine API to the Fastify plugin path, where the framework error handler catches the exception.