Authlib: JWS/JWT accepts unknown crit headers (RFC violation → possible authz bypass)

Authlib is a Python library which builds OAuth and OpenID Connect servers. Prior to version 1.6.4, Authlib’s JWS verification accepts tokens that declare unknown critical header parameters (crit), violating RFC 7515 “must‑understand” semantics. An attacker can craft a signed token with a critical header (for example, bork or cnf) that strict verifiers reject but Authlib accepts. In mixed‑language fleets, this enables split‑brain verification and can lead to policy bypass, replay, or privilege escalation. This issue has been patched in version 1.6.4.

lepture Authlib before 1.3.1 has algorithm confusion with asymmetric public keys. Unless an algorithm is specified in a jwt.decode call, HMAC verification is allowed with any asymmetric public key. (This is similar to CVE-2022-29217 and CVE-2024-33663.)