CVE-2026-5501 (GCVE-0-2026-5501)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-04-10 03:07 – Updated: 2026-04-22 13:59
VLAI
Title
Improper Certificate Signature Verification in X.509 Chain Validation Allows Forged Leaf Certificates
Summary
wolfSSL_X509_verify_cert in the OpenSSL compatibility layer accepts a certificate chain in which the leaf's signature is not checked, if the attacker supplies an untrusted intermediate with Basic Constraints `CA:FALSE` that is legitimately signed by a trusted root. An attacker who obtains any leaf certificate from a trusted CA (e.g. a free DV cert from Let's Encrypt) can forge a certificate for any subject name with any public key and arbitrary signature bytes, and the function returns `WOLFSSL_SUCCESS` / `X509_V_OK`. The native wolfSSL TLS handshake path (`ProcessPeerCerts`) is not susceptible and the issue is limited to applications using the OpenSSL compatibility API directly, which would include integrations of wolfSSL into nginx and haproxy.
SSVC
Exploitation: none Automatable: no Technical Impact: total
CISA Coordinator · CISA-ADP (v2.0.3)
Decision recorded 2026-04-22 03:55 UTC
CWE
  • CWE-295 - Improper certificate validation
Assigner
wolfSSL CNA under the icscert root
CNA scorecard B 80/100 over 51 records in the last 180 days details
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
wolfSSL wolfSSL Affected: 0 , ≤ 5.9.0 (semver)
guessed Create a notification for this product.
Show details on NVD website

{
  "containers": {
    "adp": [
      {
        "metrics": [
          {
            "other": {
              "content": {
                "id": "CVE-2026-5501",
                "options": [
                  {
                    "Exploitation": "none"
                  },
                  {
                    "Automatable": "no"
                  },
                  {
                    "Technical Impact": "total"
                  }
                ],
                "role": "CISA Coordinator",
                "timestamp": "2026-04-22T03:55:48.544190Z",
                "version": "2.0.3"
              },
              "type": "ssvc"
            }
          }
        ],
        "providerMetadata": {
          "dateUpdated": "2026-04-22T13:59:28.514Z",
          "orgId": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
          "shortName": "CISA-ADP"
        },
        "title": "CISA ADP Vulnrichment"
      }
    ],
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "modules": [
            "wolfSSL_X509_verify_cert"
          ],
          "product": "wolfSSL",
          "programFiles": [
            "src/x509_str.c"
          ],
          "vendor": "wolfSSL",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "5.9.0",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "credits": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "type": "finder",
          "value": "Calif.io in collaboration with Claude and Anthropic Research"
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "supportingMedia": [
            {
              "base64": false,
              "type": "text/html",
              "value": "wolfSSL_X509_verify_cert in the OpenSSL compatibility layer accepts a certificate chain in which the leaf\u0027s signature is not checked, if the attacker supplies an untrusted intermediate with Basic Constraints `CA:FALSE` that is legitimately signed by a trusted root. An attacker who obtains any leaf certificate from a trusted CA (e.g. a free DV cert from Let\u0027s Encrypt) can forge a certificate for any subject name with any public key and arbitrary signature bytes, and the function returns `WOLFSSL_SUCCESS` / `X509_V_OK`. The native wolfSSL TLS handshake path (`ProcessPeerCerts`) is not susceptible and the issue is limited to applications using the OpenSSL compatibility API directly, which would include integrations of wolfSSL into nginx and haproxy."
            }
          ],
          "value": "wolfSSL_X509_verify_cert in the OpenSSL compatibility layer accepts a certificate chain in which the leaf\u0027s signature is not checked, if the attacker supplies an untrusted intermediate with Basic Constraints `CA:FALSE` that is legitimately signed by a trusted root. An attacker who obtains any leaf certificate from a trusted CA (e.g. a free DV cert from Let\u0027s Encrypt) can forge a certificate for any subject name with any public key and arbitrary signature bytes, and the function returns `WOLFSSL_SUCCESS` / `X509_V_OK`. The native wolfSSL TLS handshake path (`ProcessPeerCerts`) is not susceptible and the issue is limited to applications using the OpenSSL compatibility API directly, which would include integrations of wolfSSL into nginx and haproxy."
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV4_0": {
            "Automatable": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "Recovery": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "Safety": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "attackComplexity": "LOW",
            "attackRequirements": "NONE",
            "attackVector": "NETWORK",
            "baseScore": 8.6,
            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "exploitMaturity": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
            "providerUrgency": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
            "subConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
            "subIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
            "userInteraction": "NONE",
            "valueDensity": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
            "version": "4.0",
            "vulnAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
            "vulnConfidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
            "vulnIntegrityImpact": "HIGH",
            "vulnerabilityResponseEffort": "NOT_DEFINED"
          },
          "format": "CVSS",
          "scenarios": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "GENERAL"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "problemTypes": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "cweId": "CWE-295",
              "description": "CWE-295 Improper certificate validation",
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "CWE"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-04-10T03:07:39.604Z",
        "orgId": "50d2cd11-d01a-48ed-9441-5bfce9d63b27",
        "shortName": "wolfSSL"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://github.com/wolfSSL/wolfssl/pull/10102"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "discovery": "EXTERNAL"
      },
      "title": "Improper Certificate Signature Verification in X.509 Chain Validation Allows Forged Leaf Certificates",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "Vulnogram 1.0.1"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "50d2cd11-d01a-48ed-9441-5bfce9d63b27",
    "assignerShortName": "wolfSSL",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-5501",
    "datePublished": "2026-04-10T03:07:39.604Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-04-03T15:46:09.302Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-04-22T13:59:28.514Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2",
  "vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
    "epss": {
      "cve": "CVE-2026-5501",
      "date": "2026-10-21",
      "epss": "0.00219",
      "percentile": "0.11714"
    },
    "microsoft_vex": {
      "current_release_date": "2026-04-15T01:02:42.000Z",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-5501",
      "id": "msrc_CVE-2026-5501",
      "initial_release_date": "2026-04-02T00:00:00.000Z",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "2",
      "source": "Microsoft CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "Improper Certificate Signature Verification in X.509 Chain Validation Allows Forged Leaf Certificates",
      "url": "https://msrc.microsoft.com/csaf/vex/2026/msrc_cve-2026-5501.json",
      "version": "1"
    },
    "nvd": {
      "cve": {
        "affected": [
          {
            "affectedData": [
              {
                "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
                "modules": [
                  "wolfSSL_X509_verify_cert"
                ],
                "product": "wolfSSL",
                "programFiles": [
                  "src/x509_str.c"
                ],
                "vendor": "wolfSSL",
                "versions": [
                  {
                    "lessThanOrEqual": "5.9.0",
                    "status": "affected",
                    "version": "0",
                    "versionType": "semver"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ],
            "source": "facts@wolfssl.com"
          }
        ],
        "configurations": [
          {
            "nodes": [
              {
                "cpeMatch": [
                  {
                    "criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:wolfssl:wolfssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                    "matchCriteriaId": "DA5C710C-46E8-470C-83AF-D33D1A40512D",
                    "versionEndIncluding": "5.9.0",
                    "vulnerable": true
                  }
                ],
                "negate": false,
                "operator": "OR"
              }
            ]
          }
        ],
        "cveTags": [],
        "descriptions": [
          {
            "lang": "en",
            "value": "wolfSSL_X509_verify_cert in the OpenSSL compatibility layer accepts a certificate chain in which the leaf\u0027s signature is not checked, if the attacker supplies an untrusted intermediate with Basic Constraints `CA:FALSE` that is legitimately signed by a trusted root. An attacker who obtains any leaf certificate from a trusted CA (e.g. a free DV cert from Let\u0027s Encrypt) can forge a certificate for any subject name with any public key and arbitrary signature bytes, and the function returns `WOLFSSL_SUCCESS` / `X509_V_OK`. The native wolfSSL TLS handshake path (`ProcessPeerCerts`) is not susceptible and the issue is limited to applications using the OpenSSL compatibility API directly, which would include integrations of wolfSSL into nginx and haproxy."
          }
        ],
        "id": "CVE-2026-5501",
        "lastModified": "2026-06-17T10:59:07.810",
        "metrics": {
          "cvssMetricV31": [
            {
              "cvssData": {
                "attackComplexity": "LOW",
                "attackVector": "NETWORK",
                "availabilityImpact": "NONE",
                "baseScore": 8.1,
                "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
                "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
                "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
                "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
                "scope": "UNCHANGED",
                "userInteraction": "NONE",
                "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N",
                "version": "3.1"
              },
              "exploitabilityScore": 2.8,
              "impactScore": 5.2,
              "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
              "type": "Primary"
            }
          ],
          "cvssMetricV40": [
            {
              "cvssData": {
                "Automatable": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "Recovery": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "Safety": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "attackComplexity": "LOW",
                "attackRequirements": "NONE",
                "attackVector": "NETWORK",
                "availabilityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "baseScore": 8.6,
                "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
                "confidentialityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "exploitMaturity": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "integrityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "modifiedAttackComplexity": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "modifiedAttackRequirements": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "modifiedAttackVector": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "modifiedPrivilegesRequired": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "modifiedSubAvailabilityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "modifiedSubConfidentialityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "modifiedSubIntegrityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "modifiedUserInteraction": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "modifiedVulnAvailabilityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "modifiedVulnConfidentialityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "modifiedVulnIntegrityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
                "providerUrgency": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
                "subConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
                "subIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
                "userInteraction": "NONE",
                "valueDensity": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "vectorString": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X",
                "version": "4.0",
                "vulnAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
                "vulnConfidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
                "vulnIntegrityImpact": "HIGH",
                "vulnerabilityResponseEffort": "NOT_DEFINED"
              },
              "source": "facts@wolfssl.com",
              "type": "Secondary"
            }
          ],
          "ssvcV203": [
            {
              "source": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
              "ssvcData": {
                "id": "CVE-2026-5501",
                "options": [
                  {
                    "exploitation": "none"
                  },
                  {
                    "automatable": "no"
                  },
                  {
                    "technicalImpact": "total"
                  }
                ],
                "role": "CISA Coordinator",
                "timestamp": "2026-04-22T03:55:48.544190Z",
                "version": "2.0.3"
              }
            }
          ]
        },
        "published": "2026-04-10T04:17:17.230",
        "references": [
          {
            "source": "facts@wolfssl.com",
            "tags": [
              "Issue Tracking"
            ],
            "url": "https://github.com/wolfSSL/wolfssl/pull/10102"
          }
        ],
        "sourceIdentifier": "facts@wolfssl.com",
        "vulnStatus": "Analyzed",
        "weaknesses": [
          {
            "description": [
              {
                "lang": "en",
                "value": "CWE-295"
              }
            ],
            "source": "facts@wolfssl.com",
            "type": "Secondary"
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    "redhat_vex": {
      "current_release_date": "2026-04-22T07:22:58+00:00",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-5501",
      "id": "CVE-2026-5501",
      "initial_release_date": "2026-01-01T00:00:00+00:00",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "1",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "Improper Certificate Signature Verification in X.509 Chain Validation Allows Forged Leaf Certificates",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-5501.json",
      "version": "3"
    },
    "vulnrichment": {
      "containers": {
        "adp": [
          {
            "metrics": [
              {
                "other": {
                  "content": {
                    "id": "CVE-2026-5501",
                    "options": [
                      {
                        "Exploitation": "none"
                      },
                      {
                        "Automatable": "no"
                      },
                      {
                        "Technical Impact": "total"
                      }
                    ],
                    "role": "CISA Coordinator",
                    "timestamp": "2026-04-22T03:55:48.544190Z",
                    "version": "2.0.3"
                  },
                  "type": "ssvc"
                }
              }
            ],
            "providerMetadata": {
              "dateUpdated": "2026-04-10T13:43:00.745Z",
              "orgId": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
              "shortName": "CISA-ADP"
            },
            "title": "CISA ADP Vulnrichment"
          }
        ],
        "cna": {
          "affected": [
            {
              "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
              "modules": [
                "wolfSSL_X509_verify_cert"
              ],
              "product": "wolfSSL",
              "programFiles": [
                "src/x509_str.c"
              ],
              "vendor": "wolfSSL",
              "versions": [
                {
                  "lessThanOrEqual": "5.9.0",
                  "status": "affected",
                  "version": "0",
                  "versionType": "semver"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "credits": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "finder",
              "value": "Calif.io in collaboration with Claude and Anthropic Research"
            }
          ],
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "supportingMedia": [
                {
                  "base64": false,
                  "type": "text/html",
                  "value": "wolfSSL_X509_verify_cert in the OpenSSL compatibility layer accepts a certificate chain in which the leaf\u0027s signature is not checked, if the attacker supplies an untrusted intermediate with Basic Constraints `CA:FALSE` that is legitimately signed by a trusted root. An attacker who obtains any leaf certificate from a trusted CA (e.g. a free DV cert from Let\u0027s Encrypt) can forge a certificate for any subject name with any public key and arbitrary signature bytes, and the function returns `WOLFSSL_SUCCESS` / `X509_V_OK`. The native wolfSSL TLS handshake path (`ProcessPeerCerts`) is not susceptible and the issue is limited to applications using the OpenSSL compatibility API directly, which would include integrations of wolfSSL into nginx and haproxy."
                }
              ],
              "value": "wolfSSL_X509_verify_cert in the OpenSSL compatibility layer accepts a certificate chain in which the leaf\u0027s signature is not checked, if the attacker supplies an untrusted intermediate with Basic Constraints `CA:FALSE` that is legitimately signed by a trusted root. An attacker who obtains any leaf certificate from a trusted CA (e.g. a free DV cert from Let\u0027s Encrypt) can forge a certificate for any subject name with any public key and arbitrary signature bytes, and the function returns `WOLFSSL_SUCCESS` / `X509_V_OK`. The native wolfSSL TLS handshake path (`ProcessPeerCerts`) is not susceptible and the issue is limited to applications using the OpenSSL compatibility API directly, which would include integrations of wolfSSL into nginx and haproxy."
            }
          ],
          "metrics": [
            {
              "cvssV4_0": {
                "Automatable": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "Recovery": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "Safety": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "attackComplexity": "LOW",
                "attackRequirements": "NONE",
                "attackVector": "NETWORK",
                "baseScore": 8.6,
                "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
                "exploitMaturity": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
                "providerUrgency": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
                "subConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
                "subIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
                "userInteraction": "NONE",
                "valueDensity": "NOT_DEFINED",
                "vectorString": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
                "version": "4.0",
                "vulnAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
                "vulnConfidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
                "vulnIntegrityImpact": "HIGH",
                "vulnerabilityResponseEffort": "NOT_DEFINED"
              },
              "format": "CVSS",
              "scenarios": [
                {
                  "lang": "en",
                  "value": "GENERAL"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "problemTypes": [
            {
              "descriptions": [
                {
                  "cweId": "CWE-295",
                  "description": "CWE-295 Improper certificate validation",
                  "lang": "en",
                  "type": "CWE"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "providerMetadata": {
            "dateUpdated": "2026-04-10T03:07:39.604Z",
            "orgId": "50d2cd11-d01a-48ed-9441-5bfce9d63b27",
            "shortName": "wolfSSL"
          },
          "references": [
            {
              "url": "https://github.com/wolfSSL/wolfssl/pull/10102"
            }
          ],
          "source": {
            "discovery": "EXTERNAL"
          },
          "title": "Improper Certificate Signature Verification in X.509 Chain Validation Allows Forged Leaf Certificates",
          "x_generator": {
            "engine": "Vulnogram 1.0.1"
          }
        }
      },
      "cveMetadata": {
        "assignerOrgId": "50d2cd11-d01a-48ed-9441-5bfce9d63b27",
        "assignerShortName": "wolfSSL",
        "cveId": "CVE-2026-5501",
        "datePublished": "2026-04-10T03:07:39.604Z",
        "dateReserved": "2026-04-03T15:46:09.302Z",
        "dateUpdated": "2026-04-22T13:59:28.514Z",
        "state": "PUBLISHED"
      },
      "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
      "dataVersion": "5.2"
    }
  }
}



Log in or create an account to share your comment.




Tags
Taxonomy of the tags.


Loading…

Loading…

Loading…

Drag nodes to arrange them. Double-click a related vulnerability to open it, or a source to visit its link. The Physics button on the left tunes the layout and the simulation; the legend at the bottom left hides or shows nodes by kind and by sighting type.

Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

Author Source Type Date Other

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.
Vulnerability timeline

Sightings and recorded dates, grouped by day · UTC

JSON
Events included in the timeline

Loading timeline…


    Loading…

    Loading…

    Loading…

    Related by attack behaviour

    Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.