{"id":"PYSEC-2026-3937","summary":"vLLM: Unauthenticated Internal Path and Username Disclosure via Validation Error Messages","details":"## Summary\n\nWhen the vLLM API receives a malformed request (e.g., invalid JSON or missing required fields), FastAPI raises a Pydantic `RequestValidationError`. The `validation_exception_handler` in `vllm/entrypoints/openai/server_utils.py` converts this exception to a string via `str(exc)`, which includes the internal file path and line number of the handler function. The existing `sanitize_message()` function in `vllm/entrypoints/utils.py` strips memory addresses (e.g., `0x7f...`) but does not strip `File \"...\", line X` patterns. The result is a user-facing HTTP response that leaks internal system information.\n\n## Impact\n\nAn unauthenticated attacker can extract the following with a single malformed request:\n\n- **OS username** running the vLLM process (e.g., `ubuntu`)\n- **Home directory path** (e.g., `/home/ubuntu/`)\n- **Virtual environment path** (e.g., `vllm-env/`)\n- **Python version** (e.g., `3.12`)\n- **Internal package structure and line numbers** (e.g., `vllm/entrypoints/openai/chat_completion/api_router.py`)\n- **Handler function names per endpoint**, enabling precise version fingerprinting\n\nThis information aids attackers in constructing targeted exploits: environment paths narrow the attack surface, and handler function names + line numbers enable exact version identification even when the `/version` endpoint is disabled.\n\nAll POST endpoints that accept JSON bodies are affected, including `/v1/chat/completions`, `/v1/completions`, `/tokenize`, and `/detokenize`.\n\n## Workarounds\n\nDeploying vLLM behind a reverse proxy that rewrites error response bodies to strip file paths would mitigate this, though it is fragile.\n\n## Remediation Recommendation\n\nTwo possible fixes (either suffices):\n\n**Option A — Fix `validation_exception_handler`:** Construct the error message from `exc.errors()` (the structured Pydantic error list) rather than `str(exc)`. This avoids the traceback-style string entirely.\n\n**Option B — Fix `sanitize_message`:** Add a regex to strip `File \"...\", line \\d+` patterns, similar to how memory addresses are already stripped:\n\n```python\nimport re\nmsg = re.sub(r'File \".*?\", line \\d+, in \\w+', '[internal]', msg)\n```\n\nOption A is preferred as it addresses the root cause rather than filtering symptoms.\n\n## Environment Tested\n\n- vLLM 0.20.1 (pip install, latest stable as of May 2026)\n- Python 3.12\n- Ubuntu 22.04\n- Model: Qwen/Qwen2-0.5B (text-only; bug is model-independent)\n\nThis was fixed here: https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/commit/e87521626f","aliases":["CVE-2026-73555","GHSA-hwrm-c4cx-rf4j"],"modified":"2026-09-10T12:15:14.071548189Z","published":"2026-09-10T09:45:00.131177Z","references":[{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/security/advisories/GHSA-hwrm-c4cx-rf4j"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-73555"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/pull/46415"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/commit/e87521626febe2763f997691d1599de4175f4324"},{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/releases/tag/v0.26.0"},{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://pypi.org/project/vllm"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-hwrm-c4cx-rf4j"}],"affected":[{"package":{"name":"vllm","ecosystem":"PyPI","purl":"pkg:pypi/vllm"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"0.26.0"}]}],"versions":["0.0.1","0.1.0","0.1.1","0.1.2","0.1.3","0.1.4","0.1.5","0.1.6","0.1.7","0.10.0","0.10.1","0.10.1.1","0.10.2","0.11.0","0.11.1","0.11.2","0.12.0","0.13.0","0.14.0","0.14.1","0.15.0","0.15.1","0.16.0","0.17.0","0.17.1","0.18.0","0.18.1","0.19.0","0.19.1","0.2.0","0.2.1","0.2.1.post1","0.2.2","0.2.3","0.2.4","0.2.5","0.2.6","0.2.7","0.20.0","0.20.1","0.20.2","0.21.0","0.22.0","0.22.1","0.23.0","0.24.0","0.25.0","0.25.1","0.3.0","0.3.1","0.3.2","0.3.3","0.4.0","0.4.0.post1","0.4.1","0.4.2","0.4.3","0.5.0","0.5.0.post1","0.5.1","0.5.2","0.5.3","0.5.3.post1","0.5.4","0.5.5","0.6.0","0.6.1","0.6.1.post1","0.6.1.post2","0.6.2","0.6.3","0.6.3.post1","0.6.4","0.6.4.post1","0.6.5","0.6.6","0.6.6.post1","0.7.0","0.7.1","0.7.2","0.7.3","0.8.0","0.8.1","0.8.2","0.8.3","0.8.4","0.8.5","0.8.5.post1","0.9.0","0.9.0.1","0.9.1","0.9.2"],"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/blob/main/vulns/vllm/PYSEC-2026-3937.yaml"}}],"schema_version":"1.9.0","severity":[{"type":"CVSS_V3","score":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N"}]}