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Fencer Intel
medium 4.4

CVE-2021-41106 json

File reference keys leads to incorrect hashes on HMAC algorithms

published 5y ago modified 4mo ago also GHSA-7322-jrq4-x5hf , EUVD-2021-2000

cvss
4.4
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.2%
EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 10%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

JWT is a library to work with JSON Web Token and JSON Web Signature. Prior to versions 3.4.6, 4.0.4, and 4.1.5, users of HMAC-based algorithms (HS256, HS384, and HS512) combined with `Lcobucci\JWT\Signer\Key\LocalFileReference` as key are having their tokens issued/validated using the file path as hashing key - instead of the contents. The HMAC hashing functions take any string as input and, since users can issue and validate tokens, users are lead to believe that everything works properly. Versions 3.4.6, 4.0.4, and 4.1.5 have been patched to always load the file contents, deprecated the `Lcobucci\JWT\Signer\Key\LocalFileReference`, and suggest `Lcobucci\JWT\Signer\Key\InMemory` as the alternative. As a workaround, use `Lcobucci\JWT\Signer\Key\InMemory` instead of `Lcobucci\JWT\Signer\Key\LocalFileReference` to create the instances of one's keys.

Patch / fix

  • packagist lcobucci/jwt 3.4.6, 4.0.4, 4.1.5
  • lcobucci jwt 3.4.6, 4.0.4, 4.1.5

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Exploit prediction

0.21% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 10% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 4.4 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
NVD 3.1 3.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
NVD 2.0 2.1 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N
GitHub 3.1 4.4 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
packagist lcobucci/jwt
>=3.4.0, <3.4.6
>=4.0.0, <4.0.4
>=4.1.0, <4.1.5
3.4.6
4.0.4
4.1.5

Affected products

  • lcobucci jwt

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-345 Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.