X.509 trust-chain bypass via path-depth exhaustion in wolfSSL_X509_verify_cert()
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-11999 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | wolfSSL |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-06-25 18:16:37 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-06-26 16:50:28 UTC |
| Description | X.509 trust-chain bypass (path-depth exhaustion) in the OpenSSL compatibility certificate verifier (wolfSSL_X509_verify_cert()). This affects only builds with --enable-opensslextra whose application calls X509_verify_cert() with caller-supplied untrusted intermediates; for those users it is critical, otherwise the library is unaffected. Native wolfSSL TLS/DTLS usage is not impacted. X509_verify_cert() returned success based only on the last verified link rather than on reaching a trust anchor: when the supplied chain is deeper than the verifier's maximum path depth (default 100), path building runs out of depth while still walking untrusted intermediates and the chain is accepted even though it never reaches a configured trust anchor, allowing acceptance of an attacker-controlled certificate. The default TLS handshake (WOLFSSL_VERIFY_PEER) is not affected; only applications doing manual or deferred verification through this API are. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v4.0 8.2 HIGH from [email protected]
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/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
Problem Types: CWE-295 | CWE-295 CWE-295 Improper Certificate Validation
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | [email protected] | Secondary | 8.2 | HIGH | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C... |
| 4.0 | CNA | CVSS | 8.2 | HIGH | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
| 3.1 | [email protected] | Primary | 7.5 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N |
CVSS v4.0 Breakdown
Attack Vector
NetworkAttack Complexity
LowAttack Requirements
PresentPrivileges Required
NoneUser Interaction
NoneConfidentiality
NoneIntegrity
HighAvailability
NoneSub Conf.
NoneSub Integrity
NoneSub Availability
NoneCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/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
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
Attack Vector
NetworkAttack Complexity
LowPrivileges Required
NoneUser Interaction
NoneScope
UnchangedConfidentiality
NoneIntegrity
HighAvailability
NoneCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)
Vendor Declared Affected Products
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com/wolfSSL/wolfssl/pull/10674 | [email protected] | github.com | Issue Tracking, Patch |
| www.wolfssl.com/docs/security-vulnerabilities | [email protected] | www.wolfssl.com | Vendor Advisory |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
Vendor Comments And Credit
Discovery Credit
CNA: Corban Villa, Sohee Kim and Austin Chu (UC Berkeley, Sky Lab) (en)
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.