{"cve":"CVE-2026-43971","nvd":{"published":"2026-08-18T09:17:14.340","modified":"2026-10-22T22:10:00.250","status":"Awaiting Analysis","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.\n\ncow_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.\n\nThis issue affects cowlib: from 2.9.0 before 2.20.0.","cvss_v4":{"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","score":6.3},"cvss_v3":null,"cwes":["CWE-116"],"references":["https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-43971.html","https://github.com/ninenines/cowlib/commit/485d58dfa91b91d98135dc95e5615f421715dae5","https://github.com/ninenines/cowlib/commit/89da27ee4c241f5d649ba7d9b7f2188918af6cea","https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-43971"],"products":[],"source":"nvd","synced_at":"2026-10-23T16:39:26.291718493+00:00"},"epss":{"cve":"CVE-2026-43971","score":0.00524,"percentile":0.44135,"date":"2026-10-25"},"kev":null,"osv":[],"attribution":["This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.","EPSS scores: FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System, https://www.first.org/epss","Known exploited vulnerabilities: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","Package advisories: OSV (https://osv.dev), from the GitHub Advisory Database, PyPA, Go, RustSec and other ecosystem databases, under CC-BY 4.0 or CC0","CVE records: the CVE Program's CVE List (https://www.cve.org), under its terms of use (https://www.cve.org/Legal/TermsOfUse). CVE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation; this product is not affiliated with the CVE Program."]}