CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2026-9546 — A vulnerability in libcurl caused the HTTP `Referer:` header to persist even when explicitly cleared

High CVSS 7.5

A vulnerability in libcurl caused the HTTP `Referer:` header to persist even when explicitly cleared. While the documentation states that passing NULL to `CURLOPT_REFERER` suppresses the header, the option failed to clear the internal state. As a result the previous referrer string was erroneously reused and sent in subsequent requests, potentially leaking sensitive information to unintended servers.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.5 (3.1)
Published
2026-07-03
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application

Affected products

  • haxx / curl

Matched remediation archetype

Information disclosure and sensitive data exposure

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Trace sensitive data through responses, errors, logs, metrics, traces, caches, exports, files, backups, and client bundles.
  • Identify affected subjects, tenants, retention windows, access controls, and downstream copies without opening unnecessary sensitive records.
  • Review metadata, timing, status, length, and existence signals as well as direct content disclosure.

Remediate safely

  • Minimize collection and output, apply field-level authorization and redaction at a centralized boundary, and return generic external errors.
  • Remove secrets and sensitive data from logs, artifacts, URLs, caches, and client-side bundles; rotate credentials that may have been exposed.
  • Update the affected component and add synthetic-data tests for response, error, observability, and export paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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