Authlib: OpenID implicit grant checks raw scope instead of allowed scope before issuing ID tokens

Report metadata

Summary

OpenIDImplicitGrant.validate_authorization_request() first runs the parent ImplicitGrant validation, which filters the requested scope through client.get_allowed_scope() and stores the result in request.scope. It then decides whether this is an OpenID request by checking the raw, client-supplied request.payload.scope instead of that filtered value. A client that is allowed profile but not openid can therefore request scope=openid profile, pass the check, and receive a signed ID token (with sub and profile claims) once the user consents. This happens even when Authlib's built-in, scope-filtering BearerTokenGenerator is in use.

The tainted input is the authorization request's scope parameter. The OAuth client fully controls it, and the client is the very party the scope restriction is meant to constrain. Any registered client can add openid to its request if it is permitted an id_token or id_token token response type and its allowed scopes exclude openid but include a claim-bearing scope such as profile.

Sibling paths treat the same client correctly, which suggests the raw-scope check is a bug rather than intended behaviour:

• ImplicitGrant.validate_authorization_request() -> filters the requested scope through client.get_allowed_scope() into request.scope (safe, authlib/oauth2/rfc6749/grants/implicit.py lines 141-147)
• OpenIDImplicitGrant.validate_authorization_request() -> checks the raw request.payload.scope (unsafe, authlib/oidc/core/grants/implicit.py line 72)
• UserInfoEndpoint -> rejects the same client's access token with 403 insufficient_scope (safe; observed during verification, line not recorded)
• OIDC authorization code flow -> issues no id_token for the same client (safe; observed during verification, line not recorded)

Impact

A registered OAuth client that the operator has excluded from the openid scope can get an OpenID Connect ID token for any user who logs in and approves its authorization request. During verification the provider returned an RS256-signed ID token carrying iss, aud (the requesting client), nonce, auth_time, at_hash, sub and name, while the granted scope was only profile. A consent page built the way the Authlib docs show lists only profile, so the user is not shown that an identity token will be issued.

Without this bug, the same request fails with InvalidScopeError ("Missing 'openid' scope") because the client's resolved scope does not include openid. The new capability is the ID token itself: a signed assertion of the user's identity (sub) plus claims from the client's other allowed scopes. Gating that token is exactly what the openid scope is for. The access token stays restricted when the built-in token generator is used: Authlib's UserInfoEndpoint rejects it with 403 insufficient_scope.

Scoring note: we did not compute a CVSS score. An initial triage rated this High. After dynamic verification we assess practical severity as closer to Medium, because:

1. The attacker must be a registered client that is permitted id_token response types.
2. The user must log in and consent.
3. The ID token's aud is the attacking client.

Two kinds of deployment are not affected:

• Deployments that use only the OIDC authorization code flow. During verification, that flow issued no ID token for the same client.
• Deployments where every client permitted an id_token or id_token token response type is also allowed the openid scope.

Preconditions

1. The authorization server registers OpenIDImplicitGrant (or a subclass), e.g. server.register_grant(MyOpenIDImplicitGrant). The vulnerable method runs on every OIDC implicit authorization request.
2. A client's metadata permits an OIDC implicit response type (id_token or id_token token). Nothing in Authlib ties this to the openid scope. The standard SQLAlchemy ClientMixin checks response type and scope independently, and it filters requested scopes against the client's allowed scopes at authlib/integrations/sqla_oauth2/client_mixin.py:124-129.
3. That client's allowed scopes exclude openid but include another claim-bearing scope, such as profile.
4. The attacker controls that registered client and sends an authorization request that adds openid to otherwise allowed scopes (e.g. scope=openid profile), with a nonce.
5. A user logs in and approves the request.
6. Branch condition: the raw request.payload.scope contains openid while the filtered request.scope does not. So is_openid_scope(self.request.payload.scope) is true at implicit.py:72 and no InvalidScopeError is raised.

No non-standard usage, monkey-patching or unusual configuration is needed: this is the public grant used as intended. Keeping a client's response types and allowed scopes in sync is not documented as the integrator's responsibility. The parent grant stores the filtered request.scope specifically so that authorization decisions use it. We did not capture a link to the relevant Authlib docs page, but the verification built its consent page the way those docs show.

Data flow

1. Source: the OAuth client controls the authorization request's scope parameter, e.g. GET /authorize?response_type=id_token%20token&client_id=c&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fc%2Fcb&scope=openid%20profile&nonce=n. The raw value remains available as request.payload.scope.
2. Propagation: ImplicitGrant.validate_authorization_request() filters the requested scope through client.get_allowed_scope() and stores the result in request.scope (here 'profile'). request.payload.scope still holds the raw openid profile (authlib/oauth2/rfc6749/grants/implicit.py:141-147).
3. Sink: OpenIDImplicitGrant.validate_authorization_request() uses the raw value to decide whether this is an OpenID request: if not is_openid_scope(self.request.payload.scope): (authlib/oidc/core/grants/implicit.py:72). The injected openid satisfies the check, so the method returns the redirect URI instead of raising InvalidScopeError (authlib/oidc/core/grants/implicit.py:70-84).
4. Reachability: OpenIDImplicitGrant is the public grant that serves OIDC implicit authorization requests. After the user consents, create_granted_params() and process_implicit_token() issue the ID token and user claims (authlib/oidc/core/grants/implicit.py:112-129, authlib/oidc/core/grants/implicit.py:132-169).

Vulnerable code

authlib/oidc/core/grants/implicit.py, lines 70-84 at c529a61af40e3efe05286140e00fbdced07d7987 (an excerpt; ... marks code left out of the captured snippet):

redirect_uri = super().validate_authorization_request()  # safe: parent grant sets the filtered request.scope
if not is_openid_scope(self.request.payload.scope):  # <-- sink (line 72): raw, client-supplied scope
    raise InvalidScopeError("Missing 'openid' scope", ...)
...
return redirect_uri

Reproduction

Verified two ways on Authlib c529a61af40e3efe05286140e00fbdced07d7987 (v1.8.0):

• a pytest PoC using the Flask test client
• a standalone Flask OpenID Provider on localhost, driven with curl

The Python and Flask versions were not recorded.

Setup: a client registered with scope='profile' only (no openid) and response types id_token / id_token token. It uses Authlib's built-in SQLAlchemy ClientMixin and the built-in scope-filtering BearerTokenGenerator.

1. The client sends an authorization request with scope=openid profile and a nonce.
2. ImplicitGrant sets request.scope='profile'. A consent page built the way the docs show displays only profile.
3. OpenIDImplicitGrant.validate_authorization_request() checks the raw request.payload.scope at line 72, so the request passes.
4. After the user approves, the provider returns an RS256-signed ID token with iss, aud (the client), nonce, auth_time, at_hash, sub and name, while the granted scope is profile. The ID token's signature verified against the provider's JWKS.

Controls run during verification:

• The same request without openid returns invalid_scope ("Missing 'openid' scope").
• Authlib's UserInfoEndpoint rejects this client's access token with 403 insufficient_scope.
• The OIDC authorization code flow for the same client issues no id_token.

The sketch below shows the request shape against Authlib's Flask OIDC test app. The verification's own test script is not included here.

# Client metadata: scope='profile' (no openid), response_types=['id_token token'].
rv = client.get('/authorize?response_type=id_token%20token&client_id=client-id&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fclient.test%2Fauthorized&scope=openid%20profile&nonce=n')
# after the user grants consent:
assert 'id_token=' in rv.headers['Location']  # should have been rejected: openid is not an allowed scope

• Expected: InvalidScopeError / invalid_scope ("Missing 'openid' scope"), because the client's resolved allowed scope (request.scope == 'profile') does not include openid.
• Actual: after consent, the redirect carries a signed ID token (including sub and name) while the granted scope is profile.

Suggested remediation

Decide whether to issue OpenID tokens from the scope the grant actually authorized, never from the raw requested scope. The authorized scope is self.request.scope, which the parent grant has already filtered through client.get_allowed_scope().

 redirect_uri = super().validate_authorization_request()
-if not is_openid_scope(self.request.payload.scope):
+if not is_openid_scope(self.request.scope):
     raise InvalidScopeError("Missing 'openid' scope", ...)

During verification, this one-line change at line 72 blocked the exploit, and the existing OIDC implicit/hybrid tests still passed (23 passed).

The same rule should hold for the rest of OIDC issuance. create_granted_params() (authlib/oidc/core/grants/implicit.py:112-129) passes the raw payload.scope to generate_token. It should pass self.request.scope instead.

Notes:

• Adjacent raw-scope use, worth fixing in the same change: create_granted_params() hands the raw payload.scope to generate_token. So a deployment whose custom token generator does not filter scope also grants the client access-token scopes it is not allowed; verification noted openid and email. Authlib's built-in BearerTokenGenerator re-filters the access-token scope, so this only shows up with a non-filtering generator. That re-filtering does not stop the ID token.
• Other paths through the same raw value: beyond create_granted_params(), we did not audit every scope read in process_implicit_token() (authlib/oidc/core/grants/implicit.py:132-169), or in other OIDC grants such as the hybrid grant. Whether they share the pattern is not verified.
• Already safe, no change needed:
  • the scope filtering in the parent ImplicitGrant and in ClientMixin
  • UserInfoEndpoint, which rejects this client's access token with 403 insufficient_scope
  • the OIDC authorization code flow, which issues no ID token for this client

Suggested regression test, alongside the existing Flask OIDC implicit-grant tests:

1. Register a client with scope='profile' and response_types=['id_token token'].
2. Send an authorization request with scope=openid profile and a nonce, and approve it.
3. Assert that the response is an invalid_scope error ("Missing 'openid' scope") and that the redirect contains no id_token.

A second case should use a token generator that does not filter scope, and assert that the issued access token carries only the client's allowed scopes.