VYPR
High severityNVD Advisory· Published Oct 19, 2011· Updated Apr 29, 2026

CVE-2011-4138

CVE-2011-4138

Description

The verify_exists functionality in the URLField implementation in Django before 1.2.7 and 1.3.x before 1.3.1 originally tests a URL's validity through a HEAD request, but then uses a GET request for the new target URL in the case of a redirect, which might allow remote attackers to trigger arbitrary GET requests with an unintended source IP address via a crafted Location header.

Affected packages

Versions sourced from the GitHub Security Advisory.

PackageAffected versionsPatched versions
DjangoPyPI
< 1.2.71.2.7
DjangoPyPI
>= 1.3, < 1.3.11.3.1

Affected products

22
  • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*+ 21 more
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*range: <=1.2.6
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:0.91:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:0.95:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:0.95.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:0.96:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:1.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:1.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:1.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:1.1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:1.1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:1.2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:1.2.1:2:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:1.2.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:1.2.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:1.2.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:1.2.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:1.3:alpha1:*:*:*:*:*:*
    • cpe:2.3:a:djangoproject:django:1.3:alpha2:*:*:*:*:*:*

Patches

2
7268f8af8618

[1.2.X] Altered the behavior of URLField to avoid a potential DOS vector, and to avoid potential leakage of local filesystem data. A security announcement will be made shortly.

https://github.com/django/djangoRussell Keith-MageeSep 10, 2011via ghsa
3 files changed · +8 10
  • django/db/models/fields/__init__.py+1 1 modified
    @@ -1119,7 +1119,7 @@ def formfield(self, **kwargs):
     class URLField(CharField):
         description = _("URL")
     
    -    def __init__(self, verbose_name=None, name=None, verify_exists=True, **kwargs):
    +    def __init__(self, verbose_name=None, name=None, verify_exists=False, **kwargs):
             kwargs['max_length'] = kwargs.get('max_length', 200)
             CharField.__init__(self, verbose_name, name, **kwargs)
             self.validators.append(validators.URLValidator(verify_exists=verify_exists))
    
  • docs/ref/models/fields.txt+7 1 modified
    @@ -814,7 +814,7 @@ shortcuts.
     ``URLField``
     ------------
     
    -.. class:: URLField([verify_exists=True, max_length=200, **options])
    +.. class:: URLField([verify_exists=False, max_length=200, **options])
     
     A :class:`CharField` for a URL. Has one extra optional argument:
     
    @@ -827,6 +827,12 @@ A :class:`CharField` for a URL. Has one extra optional argument:
         validating a URL being served by the same server will hang. This should not
         be a problem for multithreaded servers.
     
    +.. versionchanged:: 1.2
    +
    +    The default value of ``verify_exists`` has been changed to
    +    ``False``. This argument should not be set to ``True`` because it
    +    has security and performance problems.
    +
     The admin represents this as an ``<input type="text">`` (a single-line input).
     
     Like all :class:`CharField` subclasses, :class:`URLField` takes the optional
    
  • tests/modeltests/validation/tests.py+0 8 modified
    @@ -52,14 +52,6 @@ def test_wrong_url_value_raises_error(self):
             mtv = ModelToValidate(number=10, name='Some Name', url='not a url')
             self.assertFieldFailsValidationWithMessage(mtv.full_clean, 'url', [u'Enter a valid value.'])
     
    -    def test_correct_url_but_nonexisting_gives_404(self):
    -        mtv = ModelToValidate(number=10, name='Some Name', url='http://google.com/we-love-microsoft.html')
    -        self.assertFieldFailsValidationWithMessage(mtv.full_clean, 'url', [u'This URL appears to be a broken link.'])
    -
    -    def test_correct_url_value_passes(self):
    -        mtv = ModelToValidate(number=10, name='Some Name', url='http://www.djangoproject.com/')
    -        self.assertEqual(None, mtv.full_clean()) # This will fail if there's no Internet connection
    -
         def test_text_greater_that_charfields_max_length_eaises_erros(self):
             mtv = ModelToValidate(number=10, name='Some Name'*100)
             self.assertFailsValidation(mtv.full_clean, ['name',])
    
1a76dbefdfc6

[1.3.X] Altered the behavior of URLField to avoid a potential DOS vector, and to avoid potential leakage of local filesystem data. A security announcement will be made shortly.

https://github.com/django/djangoRussell Keith-MageeSep 10, 2011via ghsa
10 files changed · +87 57
  • django/core/validators.py+32 18 modified
    @@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
    +import platform
     import re
     import urllib2
     import urlparse
    @@ -39,10 +40,6 @@ def __call__(self, value):
             if not self.regex.search(smart_unicode(value)):
                 raise ValidationError(self.message, code=self.code)
     
    -class HeadRequest(urllib2.Request):
    -    def get_method(self):
    -        return "HEAD"
    -
     class URLValidator(RegexValidator):
         regex = re.compile(
             r'^(?:http|ftp)s?://' # http:// or https://
    @@ -52,7 +49,8 @@ class URLValidator(RegexValidator):
             r'(?::\d+)?' # optional port
             r'(?:/?|[/?]\S+)$', re.IGNORECASE)
     
    -    def __init__(self, verify_exists=False, validator_user_agent=URL_VALIDATOR_USER_AGENT):
    +    def __init__(self, verify_exists=False,
    +                 validator_user_agent=URL_VALIDATOR_USER_AGENT):
             super(URLValidator, self).__init__()
             self.verify_exists = verify_exists
             self.user_agent = validator_user_agent
    @@ -76,6 +74,7 @@ def __call__(self, value):
             else:
                 url = value
     
    +        #This is deprecated and will be removed in a future release.
             if self.verify_exists:
                 headers = {
                     "Accept": "text/xml,application/xml,application/xhtml+xml,text/html;q=0.9,text/plain;q=0.8,image/png,*/*;q=0.5",
    @@ -88,21 +87,36 @@ def __call__(self, value):
                 broken_error = ValidationError(
                     _(u'This URL appears to be a broken link.'), code='invalid_link')
                 try:
    -                req = HeadRequest(url, None, headers)
    -                u = urllib2.urlopen(req)
    +                req = urllib2.Request(url, None, headers)
    +                req.get_method = lambda: 'HEAD'
    +                #Create an opener that does not support local file access
    +                opener = urllib2.OpenerDirector()
    +
    +                #Don't follow redirects, but don't treat them as errors either
    +                error_nop = lambda *args, **kwargs: True
    +                http_error_processor = urllib2.HTTPErrorProcessor()
    +                http_error_processor.http_error_301 = error_nop
    +                http_error_processor.http_error_302 = error_nop
    +                http_error_processor.http_error_307 = error_nop
    +
    +                handlers = [urllib2.UnknownHandler(),
    +                            urllib2.HTTPHandler(),
    +                            urllib2.HTTPDefaultErrorHandler(),
    +                            urllib2.FTPHandler(),
    +                            http_error_processor]
    +                try:
    +                    import ssl
    +                    handlers.append(urllib2.HTTPSHandler())
    +                except:
    +                    #Python isn't compiled with SSL support
    +                    pass
    +                map(opener.add_handler, handlers)
    +                if platform.python_version_tuple() >= (2, 6):
    +                    opener.open(req, timeout=10)
    +                else:
    +                    opener.open(req)
                 except ValueError:
                     raise ValidationError(_(u'Enter a valid URL.'), code='invalid')
    -            except urllib2.HTTPError, e:
    -                if e.code in (405, 501):
    -                    # Try a GET request (HEAD refused)
    -                    # See also: http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616.html
    -                    try:
    -                        req = urllib2.Request(url, None, headers)
    -                        u = urllib2.urlopen(req)
    -                    except:
    -                        raise broken_error
    -                else:
    -                    raise broken_error
                 except: # urllib2.URLError, httplib.InvalidURL, etc.
                     raise broken_error
     
    
  • django/db/models/fields/__init__.py+1 1 modified
    @@ -1119,7 +1119,7 @@ def formfield(self, **kwargs):
     class URLField(CharField):
         description = _("URL")
     
    -    def __init__(self, verbose_name=None, name=None, verify_exists=True, **kwargs):
    +    def __init__(self, verbose_name=None, name=None, verify_exists=False, **kwargs):
             kwargs['max_length'] = kwargs.get('max_length', 200)
             CharField.__init__(self, verbose_name, name, **kwargs)
             self.validators.append(validators.URLValidator(verify_exists=verify_exists))
    
  • docs/internals/deprecation.txt+6 0 modified
    @@ -108,6 +108,12 @@ their deprecation, as per the :ref:`Django deprecation policy
               beyond that of a simple ``TextField`` since the removal of oldforms.
               All uses of ``XMLField`` can be replaced with ``TextField``.
     
    +       * ``django.db.models.fields.URLField.verify_exists`` has been
    +         deprecated due to intractable security and performance
    +         issues. Validation behavior has been removed in 1.4, and the
    +         argument will be removed in 1.5.
    +
    +
         * 1.5
             * The ``mod_python`` request handler has been deprecated since the 1.3
               release. The ``mod_wsgi`` handler should be used instead.
    
  • docs/ref/forms/fields.txt+5 0 modified
    @@ -756,6 +756,11 @@ Takes the following optional arguments:
         If ``True``, the validator will attempt to load the given URL, raising
         ``ValidationError`` if the page gives a 404. Defaults to ``False``.
     
    +.. deprecated:: 1.3.1
    +
    +   ``verify_exists`` was deprecated for security reasons and will be
    +   removed in 1.4. This deprecation also removes ``validator_user_agent``.
    +
     .. attribute:: URLField.validator_user_agent
     
         String used as the user-agent used when checking for a URL's existence.
    
  • docs/ref/models/fields.txt+10 3 modified
    @@ -831,14 +831,21 @@ shortcuts.
     ``URLField``
     ------------
     
    -.. class:: URLField([verify_exists=True, max_length=200, **options])
    +.. class:: URLField([verify_exists=False, max_length=200, **options])
     
     A :class:`CharField` for a URL. Has one extra optional argument:
     
    +.. deprecated:: 1.3.1
    +
    +   ``verify_exists`` is deprecated for security reasons as of 1.3.1
    +   and will be removed in 1.4. Prior to 1.3.1, the default value was
    +   ``True``.
    +
     .. attribute:: URLField.verify_exists
     
    -    If ``True`` (the default), the URL given will be checked for existence
    -    (i.e., the URL actually loads and doesn't give a 404 response).
    +    If ``True``, the URL given will be checked for existence (i.e.,
    +    the URL actually loads and doesn't give a 404 response) using a
    +    ``HEAD`` request. Redirects are allowed, but will not be followed.
     
         Note that when you're using the single-threaded development server,
         validating a URL being served by the same server will hang. This should not
    
  • docs/ref/settings.txt+16 10 modified
    @@ -1892,16 +1892,6 @@ to ensure your processes are running in the correct environment.
     
     .. _See available choices: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.1/static/datetime-keywords.html#DATETIME-TIMEZONE-SET-TABLE
     
    -.. setting:: URL_VALIDATOR_USER_AGENT
    -
    -URL_VALIDATOR_USER_AGENT
    -------------------------
    -
    -Default: ``Django/<version> (http://www.djangoproject.com/)``
    -
    -The string to use as the ``User-Agent`` header when checking to see if URLs
    -exist (see the ``verify_exists`` option on :class:`~django.db.models.URLField`).
    -
     .. setting:: USE_ETAGS
     
     USE_ETAGS
    @@ -2095,3 +2085,19 @@ TEST_DATABASE_NAME
        This setting has been replaced by :setting:`TEST_NAME` in
        :setting:`DATABASES`.
     
    +
    +
    +URL_VALIDATOR_USER_AGENT
    +------------------------
    +
    +.. deprecated:: 1.3.1
    +   This setting has been removed due to intractable performance and
    +   security problems.
    +
    +Default: ``Django/<version> (http://www.djangoproject.com/)``
    +
    +The string to use as the ``User-Agent`` header when checking to see if
    +URLs exist (see the ``verify_exists`` option on
    +:class:`~django.db.models.URLField`). This setting was deprecated in
    +1.3.1 along with ``verify_exists`` and will be removed in 1.4.
    +
    
  • tests/modeltests/validation/__init__.py+2 2 modified
    @@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
    -from django.utils import unittest
    +from django.test import TestCase
     
     from django.core.exceptions import ValidationError
     
    -class ValidationTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
    +class ValidationTestCase(TestCase):
         def assertFailsValidation(self, clean, failed_fields):
             self.assertRaises(ValidationError, clean)
             try:
    
  • tests/modeltests/validation/models.py+1 0 modified
    @@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ class ModelToValidate(models.Model):
         parent = models.ForeignKey('self', blank=True, null=True, limit_choices_to={'number': 10})
         email = models.EmailField(blank=True)
         url = models.URLField(blank=True)
    +    url_verify = models.URLField(blank=True, verify_exists=True)
         f_with_custom_validator = models.IntegerField(blank=True, null=True, validators=[validate_answer_to_universe])
     
         def clean(self):
    
  • tests/modeltests/validation/tests.py+10 13 modified
    @@ -53,25 +53,22 @@ def test_wrong_url_value_raises_error(self):
             mtv = ModelToValidate(number=10, name='Some Name', url='not a url')
             self.assertFieldFailsValidationWithMessage(mtv.full_clean, 'url', [u'Enter a valid value.'])
     
    +    #The tests below which use url_verify are deprecated
         def test_correct_url_but_nonexisting_gives_404(self):
    -        mtv = ModelToValidate(number=10, name='Some Name', url='http://google.com/we-love-microsoft.html')
    -        self.assertFieldFailsValidationWithMessage(mtv.full_clean, 'url', [u'This URL appears to be a broken link.'])
    +        mtv = ModelToValidate(number=10, name='Some Name', url_verify='http://qa-dev.w3.org/link-testsuite/http.php?code=404')
    +        self.assertFieldFailsValidationWithMessage(mtv.full_clean, 'url_verify', [u'This URL appears to be a broken link.'])
     
         def test_correct_url_value_passes(self):
    -        mtv = ModelToValidate(number=10, name='Some Name', url='http://www.example.com/')
    +        mtv = ModelToValidate(number=10, name='Some Name', url_verify='http://www.google.com/')
             self.assertEqual(None, mtv.full_clean()) # This will fail if there's no Internet connection
     
    -    def test_correct_https_url_but_nonexisting(self):
    -        mtv = ModelToValidate(number=10, name='Some Name', url='https://www.example.com/')
    -        self.assertFieldFailsValidationWithMessage(mtv.full_clean, 'url', [u'This URL appears to be a broken link.'])
    -
    -    def test_correct_ftp_url_but_nonexisting(self):
    -        mtv = ModelToValidate(number=10, name='Some Name', url='ftp://ftp.google.com/we-love-microsoft.html')
    -        self.assertFieldFailsValidationWithMessage(mtv.full_clean, 'url', [u'This URL appears to be a broken link.'])
    +    def test_correct_url_with_redirect(self):
    +        mtv = ModelToValidate(number=10, name='Some Name', url_verify='http://qa-dev.w3.org/link-testsuite/http.php?code=301') #example.com is a redirect to iana.org now
    +        self.assertEqual(None, mtv.full_clean()) # This will fail if there's no Internet connection
     
    -    def test_correct_ftps_url_but_nonexisting(self):
    -        mtv = ModelToValidate(number=10, name='Some Name', url='ftps://ftp.google.com/we-love-microsoft.html')
    -        self.assertFieldFailsValidationWithMessage(mtv.full_clean, 'url', [u'This URL appears to be a broken link.'])
    +    def test_correct_https_url_but_nonexisting(self):
    +        mtv = ModelToValidate(number=10, name='Some Name', url_verify='https://www.example.com/')
    +        self.assertFieldFailsValidationWithMessage(mtv.full_clean, 'url_verify', [u'This URL appears to be a broken link.'])
     
         def test_text_greater_that_charfields_max_length_raises_erros(self):
             mtv = ModelToValidate(number=10, name='Some Name'*100)
    
  • tests/regressiontests/forms/tests/fields.py+4 10 modified
    @@ -567,7 +567,7 @@ def test_urlfield_3(self):
                 f.clean('http://www.broken.djangoproject.com') # bad domain
             except ValidationError, e:
                 self.assertEqual("[u'This URL appears to be a broken link.']", str(e))
    -        self.assertRaises(ValidationError, f.clean, 'http://google.com/we-love-microsoft.html') # good domain, bad page
    +        self.assertRaises(ValidationError, f.clean, 'http://qa-dev.w3.org/link-testsuite/http.php?code=400') # good domain, bad page
             try:
                 f.clean('http://google.com/we-love-microsoft.html') # good domain, bad page
             except ValidationError, e:
    @@ -626,16 +626,10 @@ def test_urlfield_9(self):
                 self.assertEqual("[u'This URL appears to be a broken link.']", str(e))
     
         def test_urlfield_10(self):
    -        # UTF-8 char in path, enclosed by a monkey-patch to make sure
    -        # the encoding is passed to urllib2.urlopen
    +        # UTF-8 in the domain.
             f = URLField(verify_exists=True)
    -        try:
    -            _orig_urlopen = urllib2.urlopen
    -            urllib2.urlopen = lambda req: True
    -            url = u'http://t\xfcr.djangoproject.com/'
    -            self.assertEqual(url, f.clean(url))
    -        finally:
    -            urllib2.urlopen = _orig_urlopen
    +        url = u'http://\u03b5\u03bb\u03bb\u03b7\u03bd\u03b9\u03ba\u03ac.idn.icann.org/\u0391\u03c1\u03c7\u03b9\u03ba\u03ae_\u03c3\u03b5\u03bb\u03af\u03b4\u03b1'
    +        self.assertEqual(url, f.clean(url)) #This will fail without internet.
     
         # BooleanField ################################################################
     
    

Vulnerability mechanics

Generated by null/stub on May 9, 2026. Inputs: CWE entries + fix-commit diffs from this CVE's patches. Citations validated against bundle.

References

15

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