Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output vulnerability in ninenines cowlib allows Link header directive smuggling via unescaped special characters in cow_link:link/1. cow_link:do_link/1 in cowlib interpolates the target URI, rel value, and attribute keys directly into the serialized Link: header value without escaping or token-grammar validation. A > byte in target prematurely closes the URI slot, allowing an attacker to append additional link entries with attacker-chosen rel directives. A " or \ in rel escapes the quoted string and opens new parameters. Any byte — including whitespace, =, and " — in an attribute key is emitted verbatim. Because browsers act on Link: directives such as rel="preconnect", rel="preload", and rel="prerender", an attacker who can influence these fields in an application that round-trips parsed Link headers through cow_link:link/1 can force victim browsers to make out-of-band connections to attacker-controlled origins. This issue affects cowlib: from 2.9.0 onward.
History

Tue, 18 Aug 2026 15:45:00 +0000


Tue, 18 Aug 2026 15:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Tue, 18 Aug 2026 09:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output vulnerability in ninenines cowlib allows Link header directive smuggling via unescaped special characters in cow_link:link/1. cow_link:do_link/1 in cowlib interpolates the target URI, rel value, and attribute keys directly into the serialized Link: header value without escaping or token-grammar validation. A > byte in target prematurely closes the URI slot, allowing an attacker to append additional link entries with attacker-chosen rel directives. A " or \ in rel escapes the quoted string and opens new parameters. Any byte — including whitespace, =, and " — in an attribute key is emitted verbatim. Because browsers act on Link: directives such as rel="preconnect", rel="preload", and rel="prerender", an attacker who can influence these fields in an application that round-trips parsed Link headers through cow_link:link/1 can force victim browsers to make out-of-band connections to attacker-controlled origins. This issue affects cowlib: from 2.9.0 onward.
Title Link Header Directive Smuggling via Unescaped target/rel/Attribute Keys in cow_link:link/1
First Time appeared Ninenines
Ninenines cowlib
Weaknesses CWE-116
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:ninenines:cowlib:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Ninenines
Ninenines cowlib
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 6.3, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:L/SA:N'}


cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: EEF

Published:

Updated: 2026-08-18T15:58:46.271Z

Reserved: 2026-05-04T18:23:25.574Z

Link: CVE-2026-43971

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-08-18T14:12:27.772Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-08-18T09:17:14.340

Modified: 2026-08-18T16:17:05.807

Link: CVE-2026-43971

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-08-18T10:30:10Z