High

Unsafe handling of user-specified cookies in treq

  • Disclosed: 01.02.2022
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 11:20

Impact

Treq's request methods (treq.get, treq.post, HTTPClient.request, HTTPClient.get, etc.) accept cookies as a dictionary, for example:

python
treq.get('https://example.com/', cookies={'session': '1234'})

Such cookies are not bound to a single domain, and are therefore sent to every domain ("supercookies"). This can potentially cause sensitive information to leak upon an HTTP redirect to a different domain., e.g. should https://example.com redirect to http://cloudstorageprovider.com the latter will receive the cookie session.

Patches

Treq 2021.1.0 and later bind cookies given to request methods (treq.request, treq.get, HTTPClient.request, HTTPClient.get, etc.) to the origin of the url parameter.

Workarounds

Instead of passing a dictionary as the cookies argument, pass a http.cookiejar.CookieJar instance with properly domain- and scheme-scoped cookies in it:

python
from http.cookiejar import CookieJar
from requests.cookies import create_cookie

jar = CookieJar()
jar.add_cookie(
    create_cookie(
        name='session',
        value='1234',
        domain='example.com',
        secure=True,
    ),
)
client = HTTPClient(cookies=jar)
client.get('https://example.com/')

References

  • Originally reported at huntr.dev
  • A related issue in the handling of HTTP basic authentication was addressed in Twisted 22.1 (GHSA-92x2-jw7w-xvvx, CVE-2022-21712).

Affected software

Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.

PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
Python (PyPI) treq < 22.1.0 22.1.0

References

CVSS score 6.5/10
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-200, CWE-425, CWE-601
Platform
Python (PyPI)
Package
treq
Disclosed
01.02.2022
Updated
11.10.2026 11:20

Sources and licenses

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - PYSEC-2022-26 - PyPA Advisory Database; CC BY 4.0

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-fhpf-pp6p-55qc - CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: treq

All published vulnerabilities of this package (Python (PyPI)), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.

This is the only known vulnerability of this package.

Know which vulnerabilities affect your application

With the DockRay integration and software inventory enabled, DockRay checks reported component versions against known vulnerabilities and notifies you about confirmed matches. Coverage depends on the supported technology and available advisory data.

Connect your application
DockRay newsletter

Application security in your inbox

Important vulnerabilities, actionable guidance and practical advice for your applications. Choose your technologies and follow what matters to your project.

  • A daily digest of new vulnerabilities, critical ones included.
  • Notifications about important updates.
  • Practical advice on application security and monitoring.

Leave empty to receive updates for every technology.

Free to subscribe. Unsubscribe with one click in any email.