Skip to content

Bokeh server applications have Incomplete Origin Validation in WebSockets

Moderate severity GitHub Reviewed Published Jan 6, 2026 in bokeh/bokeh • Updated Jan 6, 2026

Package

pip bokeh (pip)

Affected versions

< 3.8.2

Patched versions

3.8.2

Description

This vulnerability allows for Cross-Site WebSocket Hijacking (CSWSH) of a deployed Bokeh server instance.

Scope

This vulnerability is only relevant to deployed Bokeh server instances. There is no impact on static HTML output, standalone embedded plots, or Jupyter notebook usage.

This vulnerability does not prevent any requirements for up-front authentication on Bokeh servers that have authentication hooks in place, and cannot be used to make Bokeh servers deployed on private, internal networks accessible outside those networks.

Impact

If a Bokeh server is configured with an allowlist (e.g., dashboard.corp), an attacker can register a domain like dashboard.corp.attacker.com (or use a subdomain if applicable) and lure a victim to visit it. The malicious site can then initiate a WebSocket connection to the vulnerable Bokeh server. Since the Origin header (e.g., http://dashboard.corp.attacker.com/) matches the allowlist according to the flawed logic, the connection is accepted.

Once connected, the attacker can interact with the Bokeh server on behalf of the victim, potentially accessing sensitive data, or modifying visualizations.

Patches

Patched in versions 3.8.2 and later.

Workarounds

None

Technical description

The match_host function in src/bokeh/server/util.py contains a flaw in how it compares hostnames against the allowlist patterns. The function uses Python's zip() function to iterate over the parts of the hostname and the pattern simultaneously. However, zip() stops iteration when the shortest iterable is exhausted.

Because the code only checks if the pattern is longer than the host (lines 232-233), but fails to check if the host is longer than the pattern, a host that starts with the pattern (but has additional segments) will successfully match.

For example, if the allowlist is configured to ['[example.com](http://example.com/)'], the function will incorrectly validate [example.com.bad.com](http://example.com.evil.com/) as a match:

  1. host parts: ['example', 'com', 'bad', 'com']
  2. pattern parts: ['example', 'com']
  3. zip compares example==example (OK) and com==com (OK).
  4. Iteration stops, and the function returns True.

References

@bryevdv bryevdv published to bokeh/bokeh Jan 6, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Jan 6, 2026
Reviewed Jan 6, 2026
Last updated Jan 6, 2026

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v4 base metrics

Exploitability Metrics
Attack Vector Network
Attack Complexity Low
Attack Requirements Present
Privileges Required None
User interaction Active
Vulnerable System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality High
Integrity High
Availability None
Subsequent System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality None
Integrity None
Availability None

CVSS v4 base metrics

Exploitability Metrics
Attack Vector: This metric reflects the context by which vulnerability exploitation is possible. This metric value (and consequently the resulting severity) will be larger the more remote (logically, and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerable system. The assumption is that the number of potential attackers for a vulnerability that could be exploited from across a network is larger than the number of potential attackers that could exploit a vulnerability requiring physical access to a device, and therefore warrants a greater severity.
Attack Complexity: This metric captures measurable actions that must be taken by the attacker to actively evade or circumvent existing built-in security-enhancing conditions in order to obtain a working exploit. These are conditions whose primary purpose is to increase security and/or increase exploit engineering complexity. A vulnerability exploitable without a target-specific variable has a lower complexity than a vulnerability that would require non-trivial customization. This metric is meant to capture security mechanisms utilized by the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: This metric captures the prerequisite deployment and execution conditions or variables of the vulnerable system that enable the attack. These differ from security-enhancing techniques/technologies (ref Attack Complexity) as the primary purpose of these conditions is not to explicitly mitigate attacks, but rather, emerge naturally as a consequence of the deployment and execution of the vulnerable system.
Privileges Required: This metric describes the level of privileges an attacker must possess prior to successfully exploiting the vulnerability. The method by which the attacker obtains privileged credentials prior to the attack (e.g., free trial accounts), is outside the scope of this metric. Generally, self-service provisioned accounts do not constitute a privilege requirement if the attacker can grant themselves privileges as part of the attack.
User interaction: This metric captures the requirement for a human user, other than the attacker, to participate in the successful compromise of the vulnerable system. This metric determines whether the vulnerability can be exploited solely at the will of the attacker, or whether a separate user (or user-initiated process) must participate in some manner.
Vulnerable System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality: This metric measures the impact to the confidentiality of the information managed by the VULNERABLE SYSTEM due to a successfully exploited vulnerability. Confidentiality refers to limiting information access and disclosure to only authorized users, as well as preventing access by, or disclosure to, unauthorized ones.
Integrity: This metric measures the impact to integrity of a successfully exploited vulnerability. Integrity refers to the trustworthiness and veracity of information. Integrity of the VULNERABLE SYSTEM is impacted when an attacker makes unauthorized modification of system data. Integrity is also impacted when a system user can repudiate critical actions taken in the context of the system (e.g. due to insufficient logging).
Availability: This metric measures the impact to the availability of the VULNERABLE SYSTEM resulting from a successfully exploited vulnerability. While the Confidentiality and Integrity impact metrics apply to the loss of confidentiality or integrity of data (e.g., information, files) used by the system, this metric refers to the loss of availability of the impacted system itself, such as a networked service (e.g., web, database, email). Since availability refers to the accessibility of information resources, attacks that consume network bandwidth, processor cycles, or disk space all impact the availability of a system.
Subsequent System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality: This metric measures the impact to the confidentiality of the information managed by the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM due to a successfully exploited vulnerability. Confidentiality refers to limiting information access and disclosure to only authorized users, as well as preventing access by, or disclosure to, unauthorized ones.
Integrity: This metric measures the impact to integrity of a successfully exploited vulnerability. Integrity refers to the trustworthiness and veracity of information. Integrity of the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM is impacted when an attacker makes unauthorized modification of system data. Integrity is also impacted when a system user can repudiate critical actions taken in the context of the system (e.g. due to insufficient logging).
Availability: This metric measures the impact to the availability of the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM resulting from a successfully exploited vulnerability. While the Confidentiality and Integrity impact metrics apply to the loss of confidentiality or integrity of data (e.g., information, files) used by the system, this metric refers to the loss of availability of the impacted system itself, such as a networked service (e.g., web, database, email). Since availability refers to the accessibility of information resources, attacks that consume network bandwidth, processor cycles, or disk space all impact the availability of a system.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U

EPSS score

Weaknesses

Missing Origin Validation in WebSockets

The product uses a WebSocket, but it does not properly verify that the source of data or communication is valid. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-21883

GHSA ID

GHSA-793v-589g-574v

Source code

Credits

Loading Checking history
See something to contribute? Suggest improvements for this vulnerability.