urllib3 redirects are not disabled when retries are disabled on PoolManager instantiation
urllib3 handles redirects and retries using the same mechanism, which is controlled by the `Retry` object. The most common way to disable redirects is at the request level, as follows: ```python resp = urllib3.request("GET", "https://httpbin.org/redirect/1", redirect=False) print(resp.status) # 302 ``` However, it is also possible to disable redirects, for all requests, by instantiating a `PoolManager` and specifying `retries` in a way that disable redirects: ```python import urllib3 http = urllib3.PoolManager(retries=0) # should raise MaxRetryError on redirect http = urllib3.PoolManager(retries=urllib3.Retry(redirect=0)) # equivalent to the above http = urllib3.PoolManager(retries=False) # should return the first response resp = http.request("GET", "https://httpbin.org/redirect/1") ``` However, the `retries` parameter is currently ignored, which means all the above examples don't disable redirects. ## Affected usages Passing `retries` on `PoolManager` instantiation to disable redirects or restrict their number. By default, requests and botocore users are not affected. ## Impact Redirects are often used to exploit SSRF vulnerabilities. An application attempting to mitigate SSRF or open redirect vulnerabilities by disabling redirects at the PoolManager level will remain vulnerable. ## Remediation You can remediate this vulnerability with the following steps: * Upgrade to a patched version of urllib3. If your organization would benefit from the continued support of urllib3 1.x, please contact [sethmichaellarson@gmail.com](mailto:sethmichaellarson@gmail.com) to discuss sponsorship or contribution opportunities. * Disable redirects at the `request()` level instead of the `PoolManager()` level.
describes (1)
Related CVEs.
| ID | severity | exploitable | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2025-50181US | medium6.1 | — | ||
urllib3 is a user-friendly HTTP client library for Python. Prior to 2.5.0, it is possible to disable redirects for all requests by instantiating a PoolManager and specifying retrie… | ||||
references
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://github.com/urllib3/urllib3PACKAGE
- https://github.com/urllib3/urllib3/commit/f05b1329126d5be6de501f9d1e3e36738bc08857WEB
- https://github.com/urllib3/urllib3/releases/tag/2.5.0WEB
- https://github.com/urllib3/urllib3/security/advisories/GHSA-pq67-6m6q-mj2vWEB
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-50181ADVISORY
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