OCSP responder certificate validity period not checked in public_key
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Attack requirements
- Present
- Impact type
- Spoofing
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · Low · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-295.
Summary
Improper Certificate Validation vulnerability in Erlang OTP public_key (pubkey_ocsp module) allows forged OCSP responses signed with an expired responder certificate to be accepted as valid. OCSP response verification in pubkey_ocsp:verify_response/5 and pubkey_ocsp:is_authorized_responder/3 in lib/public_key/src/pubkey_ocsp.erl does not check the validity period (notBefore/notAfter) of the OCSP responder certificate. An attacker who has obtained the private key of an expired CA-designated OCSP responder certificate can forge OCSP responses that Erlang/OTP accepts as valid. This affects TLS clients using OCSP stapling via the ssl application: a malicious or compromised server can present a revoked TLS certificate together with a forged OCSP response signed by an expired responder key, and the client will accept the revoked certificate as valid. It also affects applications calling public_key:pkix_ocsp_validate/5 directly, where the impact depends on the use case — server-side client certificate validation using this API may allow authentication bypass with a revoked client certificate. This issue affects OTP from OTP 27.0 before OTP 29.0.1, OTP 28.5.0.1 and OTP 27.3.4.12, corresponding to public_key from 1.16 before 1.21.1, 1.20.3.1 and 1.17.1.3.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erlang | OTP | 1.16 and later | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| Erlang | OTP | 27.0 and later | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- OTP VendorErlang Affected 1.16 and later Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- OTP VendorErlang Affected 27.0 and later Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang\/otp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 27.0 to before 27.3.4.12; 28.0 to before 28.5.0.1; 29.0 to before 29.0.1 | Vulnerable | Erlang |
- cpe:2.3:a:erlang:erlang\/otp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 27.0 to before 27.3.4.12; 28.0 to before 28.5.0.1; 29.0 to before 29.0.1 Vulnerable ·Erlang
Remediation
Red Hat 1 advisory
- RHSA-2026:63160 Released 2026-09-03 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat Hardened Images RPMs bug fix and enhancement update
- Red Hat Hardened Images erlang27-27.3.4.17-1.hum1@aarch64, erlang27-27.3.4.17-1.hum1@src, erlang27-27.3.4.17-1.hum1@x86_64 +47
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Hardened Images | Fixed | RHSA-2026:63160 |
Not affected: 3 products
- Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.2
- Red Hat OpenStack Platform 17.1
- Red Hat OpenStack Platform 18.0
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-42791
References
Patch 2
Advisory 3
More Erlang/otp vulnerabilities
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- TI-2023-26623 The SSH transport protocol with certain OpenSSH extensions, found in OpenSSH before 9.6… CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.9
- TI-2017-14604 The Erlang otp TLS server answers with different TLS alerts to different error types in… CVSS 3.0MEDIUM 5.9
- TI-2026-36669 Stack buffer overflow in SCTP error cause parsing in inet_drv allows remote VM crash CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-17230 In Erlang/OTP before 23.3.4.15, 24.x before 24.3.4.2, and 25.x before 25.0.2, there is a… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2016-08327 An issue was discovered in Erlang/OTP 18.x. CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
Sources
- CVE-2026-42791 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-42791 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- CVE-2026-42791 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences