CVE-2026-18092 PUBLISHED

Net::SAML2 versions before 0.86 for Perl allow SAML authentication bypass via XML signature wrapping because new_from_xml reads assertion identity with document-wide XPath instead of the signed subtree

Assigner: CPANSec
Reserved: 28.07.2026 Published: 03.08.2026 Updated: 03.08.2026

Net::SAML2 versions before 0.86 for Perl allow SAML authentication bypass via XML signature wrapping because new_from_xml reads assertion identity with document-wide XPath instead of the signed subtree.

new_from_xml reads the NameID, attribute values, SessionIndex, audience and other identity fields with document-wide XPath, such as //saml:Assertion/saml:AttributeStatement/saml:Attribute and //saml:Subject/saml:NameID, which select the first matching element in document order rather than the element covered by the verified signature. handle_response confirms that a signature is present and, when a cacert is configured, that it chains to the CA, but XML::Sig verifies only the element named by the signature's Reference URI, so unsigned sibling assertions in the same document are not covered. An attacker who holds any one IdP-signed assertion can add an unsigned attacker-authored assertion earlier in document order; the signature still verifies and the document-order XPath returns the attacker's NameID and attributes.

Any caller that passes an untrusted Response to new_from_xml can accept identity fields from an assertion the IdP never signed, even when a cacert trust anchor is configured, so a party holding one valid IdP-signed assertion can authenticate as an arbitrary user.

Product Status

Vendor TIMLEGGE
Product Net::SAML2
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 0 to 0.86 (excl.)

Solutions

Upgrade to Net::SAML2 0.86 or later, which anchors identity extraction at the assertion subtree covered by a signature that validates against the configured trust anchor.

References

Problem Types

  • CWE-347 Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature CWE

Impacts

  • CAPEC-115 Authentication Bypass