OPeNDAP Hyrax SSRF and Credential Disclosure via Redirects

Executive Summary

CVE-2026-16637 is a vulnerability in OPeNDAP Hyrax that allows Server Side Request Forgery (SSRF) and credential disclosure. The flaw occurs because Hyrax follows unvalidated HTTP redirects without checking if the destination is on the allowed hosts list. This lets attackers access internal systems or leak authentication tokens like Earthdata headers (User-Id, Echo-Token) to attacker-controlled endpoints.

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Detection Guidance

To detect this vulnerability, monitor HTTP redirects in Hyrax logs for unauthorized external endpoints. Check for leaked headers like User-Id or Echo-Token in network traffic. Verify if redirects bypass the AllowedHosts allowlist by inspecting server configurations and access logs for unexpected external requests.

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Impact Analysis

An unauthenticated attacker could exploit this to access internal services or obtain a user's Earthdata identifier and reusable credentials. This may allow unauthorized access to protected datasets. The vulnerability was fixed in Hyrax version 1.18.0.

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Compliance Impact

This vulnerability could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data and credential leaks, which may violate compliance requirements under GDPR (data protection) and HIPAA (health data privacy). Unauthorized access to authentication tokens or user identifiers risks exposing protected personal or health information.

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Mitigation Strategies

Immediately upgrade to Hyrax version 1.18.0 or later to address the vulnerability. Review and tighten the AllowedHosts allowlist configuration to prevent unauthorized redirects. Monitor network traffic for suspicious external requests and leaked authentication tokens.

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