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TI-2026-40367 Aliases CVE-2026-55962GHSA-gq94-hf88-g4wv

TLS 1.3 post-handshake authentication: server accepts Finished without client Certificate/CertificateVerify

Priority LOW 26CWE-287Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
Present
Impact type
Security bypass
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · High · None
Fix status
No fix listed

Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-287.

Summary

TLS 1.3 post-handshake authentication (PHA) issue where a server could accept a client's Finished message without the client having sent a Certificate and CertificateVerify. The post-handshake-auth exemption that allows an empty/absent peer certificate was only intended for the initial handshake, but it was also being applied while a post-handshake CertificateRequest was still outstanding. The check is now scoped to the initial handshake only: on the server, once a post-handshake CertificateRequest has been sent (certReqCtx is set), a peer certificate and a valid CertificateVerify are required again before the Finished is accepted, with empty-certificate handling following the configured verify mode (FAIL_IF_NO_PEER_CERT) just as during first-handshake client authentication. Only affects TLS 1.3 servers built with post-handshake authentication support (WOLFSSL_POST_HANDSHAKE_AUTH / --enable-postauth, included in --enable-all) that enable WOLFSSL_VERIFY_POST_HANDSHAKE and request a client certificate after the handshake via wolfSSL_request_certificate(). Clients, and servers that do not use post-handshake authentication, are unaffected.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00235 14th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix No fix listed No fixed version in the sources yet

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

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
wolfSSLwolfSSL5.5.4 – 5.9.1—No fix listedCNA
  • wolfSSL VendorwolfSSL Affected 5.5.4 – 5.9.1 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:wolfssl:wolfssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*5.5.4 to before 5.9.2VulnerablewolfSSL
  • cpe:2.3:a:wolfssl:wolfssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.5.4 to before 5.9.2 Vulnerable ·wolfSSL

Remediation

No fixed version listed by the sources yet.

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-55962
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-gq94-hf88-g4wv

References

  • TI-2024-00830 SEGV and out of bounds memory read from malicious packet CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
  • TI-2022-18557 In wolfSSL before 5.5.1, malicious clients can cause a buffer overflow during a TLS 1.3… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2025-10943 Potential DoS Vulnerability through Multiple KeyShareEntry with Same Group in TLS 1.3 ClientHello CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 6.3
  • TI-2017-09737 wolfSSL Bleichenbacher/ROBOT CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2019-08902 wolfSSL 4.0.0 has a Buffer Overflow in DoPreSharedKeys in tls13.c when a current identity… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2017-02021 Improper certificate validation in wolfSSL CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
See all 150 →

Sources