CVE-2026-59223: Open WebUI: `WEB_FETCH_FILTER_LIST` host allow/block filter bypassable via URL path and non-label-boundary matching
Summary
The administrator-configured WEBFETCHFILTERLIST (the allow/block list applied to server-side web fetches: RAG URL ingestion, URL-to-markdown, web-search content fetch) matches hostnames incorrectly, so the filter can be bypassed.
Details
isstringallowed (backend/openwebui/utils/misc.py) matches with str.endswith(...), and the primary web-fetch call site (backend/openwebui/retrieval/web/utils.py) called it with the full URL string, not the hostname:
- Blocklist bypass via path. A blocklist entry !internal.example.com only matches a URL that ends with that string. Any URL with a path (https://internal.example.com/x) ends with /x, so the entry never matches and the fetch proceeds. The blocklist effectively only stopped path-less URLs. - Allowlist false-reject and bypass. An allowlist company.com rejected the legitimate https://api.company.com/status and admitted https://attacker.example/path/company.com. - Non-label-boundary matching at the hostname-shaped call site (retrieval/web/main.py): endswith('corp.com') also matched evilcorp.com, and 10.0.0.1 matched 110.0.0.1.
Impact
An authenticated user able to trigger a server-side web fetch can reach hosts the administrator intended to block with WEBFETCHFILTERLIST.
Open WebUI's primary SSRF protection is a separate, always-on guard that rejects any URL resolving to a non-global IP (validateurl and the connection-layer ssrfsafenewconn, active whenever ENABLERAGLOCALWEBFETCH is off, the default). That guard is unaffected by this issue and continues to block loopback, RFC1918 and link-local addresses, including the 169.254.169.254 cloud-metadata endpoint. This bypass therefore does not grant access to those internal targets. What it defeats is the administrator's ability to block specific publicly-resolvable hosts (internal services reachable from the server over a public IP, e.g. split-horizon DNS or internal PaaS endpoints) and to enforce an allowlist. Fetched content is returned to the requester, so for hosts reachable from the server's network position this is a read/content-disclosure SSRF against the admin-blocked host.
Patch
Matching is now performed on the parsed hostname using DNS label boundaries. A dedicated ishostallowed(host, ...) matches an entry only when host and entry are equal or the entry is a parent domain (host == entry or host.endswith('.' + entry)), so corp.com matches api.corp.com but not evilcorp.com, and IP entries match only the identical address. Both web-fetch call sites pass the parsed hostname rather than the full URL. The generic isstringallowed is retained unchanged for unrelated non-host filters.
Credit
Reported by @addcontent.
Other sources
Open WebUI is an extensible, feature-rich, and user-friendly self-hosted AI platform. Prior to 0.10.0, WEBFETCHFILTERLIST matching compared configured host entries against URL strings and non-label-boundary suffixes, allowing path-based blocklist bypasses such as !internal.example.com in a URL path and sibling-domain matches that did not reflect the intended hostname policy. This issue is fixed in version 0.10.0.
— MITRE
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Upgrade
Upgrade
pip/open-webuito a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 0.10.0 - Upgrade
Upgrade
Open WebUIto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 0.10.0 - Configuration
Use the parsed hostname for WEB_FETCH_FILTER_LIST matching and enforce DNS label boundary rules so blocklist/allowlist entries apply to exact host or parent domains (label-boundary safe), instead of suffix matching against full URL strings or non-label-boundary endswith/endswith(':port') behavior.
Open WebUI WEB_FETCH_FILTER_LIST hostname matching = parsed hostname with DNS label boundaries (host == entry OR host.endswith('.' + entry)) - Configuration
Update the web-fetch filtering call sites (e.g., backend/open_webui/retrieval/web/utils.py) to pass the parsed hostname (not the full URL string) into the filter logic.
Open WebUI (web fetch call site) URL input to WEB_FETCH_FILTER_LIST = hostname only
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the severity of CVE-2026-59223?
The severity of CVE-2026-59223 is rated as medium with a score of 4.3.
How do I fix CVE-2026-59223?
To fix CVE-2026-59223, upgrade Open WebUI to version 0.10.0 or later.
What type of vulnerability is CVE-2026-59223?
CVE-2026-59223 is a filter bypass vulnerability affecting the host allow/block functionality.
What impact does CVE-2026-59223 have on Open WebUI?
CVE-2026-59223 allows unauthorized path-based bypass of configured host blocklists, potentially exposing sensitive resources.
Is CVE-2026-59223 easy to exploit?
CVE-2026-59223 has an attack vector classified as network, making it relatively easier to exploit remotely.