Sensitive Data Exposure vulnerability in Erlang OTP inets (httpc_response module) allows Retrieve Embedded Sensitive Data. The httpc client forwards the Authorization and Proxy-Authorization request headers to redirect targets without checking whether the redirect crosses an origin boundary. httpc_response:redirect/2 constructs the redirected request by updating only the host field of the header record; all other fields (including authorization and proxy_authorization) are copied verbatim. The redirect target host is never compared against the original host. autoredirect defaults to true, so this affects all httpc callers that do not explicitly disable automatic redirects. An attacker who controls a server that the victim contacts via httpc can issue a cross-origin 3xx redirect to a server they also control. The Authorization header (including Basic credentials derived from URL userinfo via httpc_request:handle_user_info/2) is forwarded to the redirect target, allowing credential theft. The same applies to the Proxy-Authorization header. This vulnerability is associated with program files lib/inets/src/http_client/httpc_response.erl. This issue affects OTP from 17.0 before 29.0.2, 28.5.0.2 and 27.3.4.13 corresponding to inets from 5.10 before 9.7.1, 9.6.2.2 and 9.3.2.6.

The version of FreeBSD installed on the remote host is prior to tested version. It is, therefore, affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the d87e2466-64d4-11f1-ab11-4c526214c986 advisory.

    https://github.com/erlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-m75x-4vwg-ggjh reports:
    The HTTP client (httpc) in inets now removes Authorization,               Proxy-Authorization, Cookie, Referer, and Origin headers when               following a redirect to a different host or port, following the               requirements of RFC 9110 section 15.4. Previously these headers               were forwarded verbatim, potentially leaking credentials to               unintended targets.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the FreeBSD security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

  - Sensitive Data Exposure vulnerability in Erlang OTP inets (httpc_response module) allows Retrieve Embedded     Sensitive Data. The httpc client forwards the Authorization and Proxy-Authorization request headers to     redirect targets without checking whether the redirect crosses an origin boundary.
    httpc_response:redirect/2 constructs the redirected request by updating only the host field of the header     record; all other fields (including authorization and proxy_authorization) are copied verbatim. The     redirect target host is never compared against the original host. autoredirect defaults to true, so this     affects all httpc callers that do not explicitly disable automatic redirects. An attacker who controls a     server that the victim contacts via httpc can issue a cross-origin 3xx redirect to a server they also     control. The Authorization header (including Basic credentials derived from URL userinfo via     httpc_request:handle_user_info/2) is forwarded to the redirect target, allowing credential theft. The same     applies to the Proxy-Authorization header. This vulnerability is associated with program files     lib/inets/src/http_client/httpc_response.erl. This issue affects OTP from 17.0 before 29.0.2, 28.5.0.2 and     27.3.4.13 corresponding to inets from 5.10 before 9.7.1, 9.6.2.2 and 9.3.2.6. (CVE-2026-48856)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
320576	FreeBSD : Erlang/OTP -- httpc leaks authentication headers on cross-host redirect (d87e2466-64d4-11f1-ab11-4c526214c986)	Nessus	FreeBSD Local Security Checks	high
320495	Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-48856	Nessus	Misc.	high

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