Django UpdateCacheMiddleware Authorization Header Vary Response Header Vulnerability

A vulnerability exists in Django's UpdateCacheMiddleware component, specifically in versions 5.2 prior to 5.2.15 and 6.0 prior to 6.0.6. The issue arises because the middleware fails to include the 'Authorization' header in the 'Vary' response header for requests that contain the 'Authorization' header but lack 'Cache-Control: public'. This oversight allows remote attackers to access private cached responses through unauthenticated requests to the same URL. Additionally, earlier unsupported Django series (such as 5.0.x, 4.1.x, and 3.2.x) may also be affected.

Impact

Exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to unauthorized access to private data by allowing unauthenticated users to read private cached responses that should not be accessible to them.

Remediation

Users can upgrade to Django versions 6.0.6 or 5.2.15 to address this vulnerability.