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CVE-2026-43968

MEDIUMCVSS 6.3/10EPSS 0.22%

Last modified

CVE-2026-43968 is a medium-severity vulnerability rated 6.3/10 on the CVSS scale. Improper Neutralization of CRLF Sequences ('CRLF Injection') vulnerability in ninenines cowlib allows SSE event splitting and injection via unvalidated field values. cow_sse:event/1 in cowlib guards the id and event fields against \n but not against bare \r, and the internal prefix_lines/2 function used for data and comment fields splits only on \n. Because the SSE specification requires decoders to treat \r\n, \r, and \n as equivalent line terminators, an attacker who controls any of these fields can inject additional SSE lines and forge a complete event with an arbitrary event type and data payload on the receiving end. EPSS estimates a 0.22% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Description

Improper Neutralization of CRLF Sequences ('CRLF Injection') vulnerability in ninenines cowlib allows SSE event splitting and injection via unvalidated field values. cow_sse:event/1 in cowlib guards the id and event fields against \n but not against bare \r, and the internal prefix_lines/2 function used for data and comment fields splits only on \n. Because the SSE specification requires decoders to treat \r\n, \r, and \n as equivalent line terminators, an attacker who controls any of these fields can inject additional SSE lines and forge a complete event with an arbitrary event type and data payload on the receiving end. In typical deployments where browser EventSource clients or other SSE consumers dispatch on event.type and render event.data, this enables event splitting, client-side logic manipulation, and stored-XSS-equivalent behaviour when event data is inserted into the DOM. This issue affects cowlib from 2.6.0 before 2.16.1.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1
4/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N

CVSS 4.0
6.3/10

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/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

EPSS Probability
0.22%

12.1th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

Affected Software

VendorProductVersions
NineninesCowlib>= 2.6.0, < 2.16.1

References

Timeline

Published
Last Modified
Status
Analyzed

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-43968?
Improper Neutralization of CRLF Sequences ('CRLF Injection') vulnerability in ninenines cowlib allows SSE event splitting and injection via unvalidated field values. cow_sse:event/1 in cowlib guards the id and event fields against \n but not against bare \r, and the internal prefix_lines/2 function used for data and comment fields splits only on \n. Because the SSE specification requires decoders to treat \r\n, \r, and \n as equivalent line terminators, an attacker who controls any of these fields can inject additional SSE lines and forge a complete event with an arbitrary event type and data payload on the receiving end. In typical deployments where browser EventSource clients or other SSE consumers dispatch on event.type and render event.data, this enables event splitting, client-side logic manipulation, and stored-XSS-equivalent behaviour when event data is inserted into the DOM. This issue affects cowlib from 2.6.0 before 2.16.1.
How severe is CVE-2026-43968?
CVE-2026-43968 has a CVSS score of 6.3/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.22% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2026-43968?
Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

Are you affected by CVE-2026-43968?

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Source: NVD / NIST