OpenTelemetry-Go: Log gRPC exporter ignores env TLS certs, bypassing mTLS/pinning
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-81871 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | GitHub_M |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-09-16 21:17:22 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-09-17 20:18:40 UTC |
| Description | OpenTelemetry-Go is the Go implementation of OpenTelemetry. Prior to version 0.21.0, the exporters/otlp/otlplog/otlploggrpc package loads OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_CERTIFICATE, OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_CERTIFICATE, and related client certificate environment variables through loadEnvTLS into cfg.tlsCfg, but newGRPCDialOptions does not apply cfg.tlsCfg when creating gRPC transport credentials. The environment-only TLS path instead uses credentials.NewTLS with system roots and no configured client certificate, bypassing intended private CA pinning and mutual TLS unless the application also supplies WithTLSCredentials. A network attacker able to intercept or spoof the collector connection with a system-trusted certificate can read or alter log telemetry. This issue is fixed in version 0.21.0. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v4.0 6.3 MEDIUM from [email protected]
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/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
EPSS: 0.001960000 probability, percentile 0.096630000 (date 2026-09-20)
Problem Types: CWE-295 | CWE-923 | CWE-295 CWE-295: Improper Certificate Validation | CWE-923 CWE-923: Improper Restriction of Communication Channel to Intended Endpoints
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | [email protected] | Secondary | 6.3 | MEDIUM | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C... |
| 4.0 | CNA | DECLARED | 6.3 | MEDIUM | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
CVSS v4.0 Breakdown
Attack Vector
NetworkAttack Complexity
LowAttack Requirements
PresentPrivileges Required
NoneUser Interaction
NoneConfidentiality
LowIntegrity
LowAvailability
NoneSub Conf.
NoneSub Integrity
NoneSub Availability
NoneCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/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
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Open-telemetry | Opentelemetry-go | affected < 0.21.0 | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go/commit/c65d435b43e5e6b82310e6... | [email protected] | github.com | |
| github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go/releases/tag/exporters/otlp/o... | [email protected] | github.com | |
| github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go/security/advisories/GHSA-w34q... | [email protected] | github.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
No vendor comments have been submitted for this CVE.
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.