CVE-2026-42789

What it is

Improper Following of a Certificate's Chain of Trust vulnerability in Erlang OTP public_key (pubkey_cert module) allows a non-CA certificate to be accepted as an intermediate issuer, enabling certificate chain forgery. In lib/public_key/src/pubkey_cert.erl, pubkey_cert:validate_extensions/7 contains two flaws that together allow a certificate with basicConstraints cA:false and no keyUsage extension to be used as an intermediate issuer in a chain passed to public_key:pkix_path_validation/3: the cA:false clause recurses into the remaining extensions without rejecting the certificate when it is in issuer position, and the keyUsage check only fires when the extension is present, so a certificate lacking keyUsage entirely bypasses the keyCertSign enforcement. Any party holding an end-entity certificate with basicConstraints cA:false and no keyUsage extension, issued by any CA in the victim's trust store, can use that certificate's private key to sign forged leaf certificates for arbitrary identities. public_key:pkix_path_validation/3 accepts the resulting chain, and by extension every TLS or mTLS endpoint built on the OTP ssl application that relies on the default verifier is affected, including server identity verification on the client side and client certificate verification on mTLS servers. This issue affects OTP from OTP 17.0 before OTP 27.3.4.19, OTP 28.5.0.8, and OTP 29.1.2, corresponding to public_key from 0.22 before 1.17.1.7, 1.20.3.6, and 1.21.8. Whether OTP before OTP 17.0, corresponding to public_key before 0.22, is affected is unknown.

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited over the network without logging in. Limited direct impact.

Exploit odds

0.4% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.

Timeline

1. 2026-05-27 14:16 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-10-26 11:10 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

• Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
• Exploit odds: 0.4% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
• Severity: 7.0 HIGH (CVSS).
• Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.

Details

Published

2026-05-27 14:16 UTC

Last modified

2026-10-26 11:10 UTC

Exploit probability

0.4% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-295 · Improper certificate validation

Record status

Modified

Affected

• Erlang erlang\/otp < 26.2.5.21
• Erlang erlang\/otp < 27.3.4.12
• Erlang erlang\/otp < 28.5.0.1
• Erlang erlang\/otp < 29.0.1

Attack profile CVSS 4.0 · 7.0

Attack vector

Network

Complexity

Low

Attack requirements

Present

Privileges needed

None

User interaction

None

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

Low

Availability

None

Is it in your code?

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Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2026-42789.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2026-42789. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

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