CVE-2026-69249

What it is

python-cryptography is a package designed to expose cryptographic primitives and recipes to Python developers. In versions 42.0.0 through 48.0.0, when resolving invalid certificate chains that include duplicate copies of self-signed certificates, the processing recursively invokes the same candidate, leading to an exponential blowup. Although the limitation that the chain depth cannot exceed a specified maximum depth prevents unbounded recursion and guarantees termination, an attacker-controlled certificate chain can lead the processing to easily take more than 5s to reject in testing. This amplification could form the basis for a resource exhaustion denial of service attack. The core issue arises in the recursive nature of build_chain_inner, which does not de-duplicate against previously analyzed candidates. As the correctness of validation is not affected, the integrity of a system cannot be compromised through this vector, only its availability. This issue is fixed in 49.0.0.

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited over the network without logging in. High risk of service disruption.

Exploit odds

0.3% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

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

Timeline

1. 2026-08-03 22:16 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-10-23 21:10 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Details

Published

2026-08-03 22:16 UTC

Last modified

2026-10-23 21:10 UTC

Exploit probability

0.3% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-400 · Uncontrolled resource consumption

Record status

Awaiting Analysis

Attack profile CVSS 4.0 · 8.7

Attack vector

Network

Complexity

Low

Attack requirements

None

Privileges needed

None

User interaction

None

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High