CVE-2026-33248 (GCVE-0-2026-33248)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-03-25 20:18 – Updated: 2026-03-25 20:18
VLAI?
Title
NATS has mTLS verify_and_map authentication bypass via incorrect Subject DN matching
Summary
NATS-Server is a High-Performance server for NATS.io, a cloud and edge native messaging system. Prior to versions 2.11.15 and 2.12.6, when using mTLS for client identity, with `verify_and_map` to derive a NATS identity from the client certificate's Subject DN, certain patterns of RDN would not be correctly enforced, allowing for authentication bypass. This does require a valid certificate from a CA already trusted for client certificates, and `DN` naming patterns which the NATS maintainers consider highly unlikely. So this is an unlikely attack. Nonetheless, administrators who have been very sophisticated in their `DN` construction patterns might conceivably be impacted. Versions 2.11.15 and 2.12.6 contain a fix. As a workaround, developers should review their CA issuing practices.
Severity ?
4.2 (Medium)
Assigner
References
| URL | Tags | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Impacted products
| Vendor | Product | Version | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nats-io | nats-server |
Affected:
< 2.11.15
Affected: >= 2.12.0-RC.1, < 2.12.6 |
{
"containers": {
"cna": {
"affected": [
{
"product": "nats-server",
"vendor": "nats-io",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "\u003c 2.11.15"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "\u003e= 2.12.0-RC.1, \u003c 2.12.6"
}
]
}
],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "NATS-Server is a High-Performance server for NATS.io, a cloud and edge native messaging system. Prior to versions 2.11.15 and 2.12.6, when using mTLS for client identity, with `verify_and_map` to derive a NATS identity from the client certificate\u0027s Subject DN, certain patterns of RDN would not be correctly enforced, allowing for authentication bypass. This does require a valid certificate from a CA already trusted for client certificates, and `DN` naming patterns which the NATS maintainers consider highly unlikely. So this is an unlikely attack. Nonetheless, administrators who have been very sophisticated in their `DN` construction patterns might conceivably be impacted. Versions 2.11.15 and 2.12.6 contain a fix. As a workaround, developers should review their CA issuing practices."
}
],
"metrics": [
{
"cvssV3_1": {
"attackComplexity": "HIGH",
"attackVector": "NETWORK",
"availabilityImpact": "NONE",
"baseScore": 4.2,
"baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
"confidentialityImpact": "LOW",
"integrityImpact": "LOW",
"privilegesRequired": "LOW",
"scope": "UNCHANGED",
"userInteraction": "NONE",
"vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N",
"version": "3.1"
}
}
],
"problemTypes": [
{
"descriptions": [
{
"cweId": "CWE-287",
"description": "CWE-287: Improper Authentication",
"lang": "en",
"type": "CWE"
}
]
},
{
"descriptions": [
{
"cweId": "CWE-295",
"description": "CWE-295: Improper Certificate Validation",
"lang": "en",
"type": "CWE"
}
]
}
],
"providerMetadata": {
"dateUpdated": "2026-03-25T20:18:28.923Z",
"orgId": "a0819718-46f1-4df5-94e2-005712e83aaa",
"shortName": "GitHub_M"
},
"references": [
{
"name": "https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/security/advisories/GHSA-3f24-pcvm-5jqc",
"tags": [
"x_refsource_CONFIRM"
],
"url": "https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/security/advisories/GHSA-3f24-pcvm-5jqc"
},
{
"name": "https://advisories.nats.io/CVE/secnote-2026-13.txt",
"tags": [
"x_refsource_MISC"
],
"url": "https://advisories.nats.io/CVE/secnote-2026-13.txt"
}
],
"source": {
"advisory": "GHSA-3f24-pcvm-5jqc",
"discovery": "UNKNOWN"
},
"title": "NATS has mTLS verify_and_map authentication bypass via incorrect Subject DN matching"
}
},
"cveMetadata": {
"assignerOrgId": "a0819718-46f1-4df5-94e2-005712e83aaa",
"assignerShortName": "GitHub_M",
"cveId": "CVE-2026-33248",
"datePublished": "2026-03-25T20:18:28.923Z",
"dateReserved": "2026-03-18T02:42:27.509Z",
"dateUpdated": "2026-03-25T20:18:28.923Z",
"state": "PUBLISHED"
},
"dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
"dataVersion": "5.2",
"vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
"nvd": "{\"cve\":{\"id\":\"CVE-2026-33248\",\"sourceIdentifier\":\"security-advisories@github.com\",\"published\":\"2026-03-25T21:16:47.563\",\"lastModified\":\"2026-03-25T21:16:47.563\",\"vulnStatus\":\"Received\",\"cveTags\":[],\"descriptions\":[{\"lang\":\"en\",\"value\":\"NATS-Server is a High-Performance server for NATS.io, a cloud and edge native messaging system. Prior to versions 2.11.15 and 2.12.6, when using mTLS for client identity, with `verify_and_map` to derive a NATS identity from the client certificate\u0027s Subject DN, certain patterns of RDN would not be correctly enforced, allowing for authentication bypass. This does require a valid certificate from a CA already trusted for client certificates, and `DN` naming patterns which the NATS maintainers consider highly unlikely. So this is an unlikely attack. Nonetheless, administrators who have been very sophisticated in their `DN` construction patterns might conceivably be impacted. Versions 2.11.15 and 2.12.6 contain a fix. As a workaround, developers should review their CA issuing practices.\"}],\"metrics\":{\"cvssMetricV31\":[{\"source\":\"security-advisories@github.com\",\"type\":\"Secondary\",\"cvssData\":{\"version\":\"3.1\",\"vectorString\":\"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N\",\"baseScore\":4.2,\"baseSeverity\":\"MEDIUM\",\"attackVector\":\"NETWORK\",\"attackComplexity\":\"HIGH\",\"privilegesRequired\":\"LOW\",\"userInteraction\":\"NONE\",\"scope\":\"UNCHANGED\",\"confidentialityImpact\":\"LOW\",\"integrityImpact\":\"LOW\",\"availabilityImpact\":\"NONE\"},\"exploitabilityScore\":1.6,\"impactScore\":2.5}]},\"weaknesses\":[{\"source\":\"security-advisories@github.com\",\"type\":\"Primary\",\"description\":[{\"lang\":\"en\",\"value\":\"CWE-287\"},{\"lang\":\"en\",\"value\":\"CWE-295\"}]}],\"references\":[{\"url\":\"https://advisories.nats.io/CVE/secnote-2026-13.txt\",\"source\":\"security-advisories@github.com\"},{\"url\":\"https://github.com/nats-io/nats-server/security/advisories/GHSA-3f24-pcvm-5jqc\",\"source\":\"security-advisories@github.com\"}]}}"
}
}
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Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
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