CVE-2026-89133: NameConstraints not enforced across unconstrained intermediate CA
Vulnerability summary
CVE-2026-89133 is a medium (CVSS 6.3) Improper Certificate Validation vulnerability in wolfssl. EPSS estimates a 0.13% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 2.4% of scored vulnerabilities.
Not severe (CVSS 6.3, network access); no exploitation reported by the 5 checked sources
Source freshness unavailable
How is this decided?Timeline
- 27-09-2026PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
- 29-09-2026Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.
Description
wolfSSL versions 5.9.2 and earlier contain a flaw in the X.509 certificate validation logic where it fails to properly enforce NameConstraints extensions when there is an unconstrained CA tier between a name-constrained intermediate CA and the leaf certificate. wolfSSL incorrectly accepted certificates for hostnames they shouldn't be allowed to cover, due to a chain-walking state-machine bug that resets the validation state when encountering an intermediate without NameConstraints, thereby bypassing cryptographic delegation controls. This defect exists in the default build configuration that makes use of certificates where name constraint extensions are used. Thanks to Jack Lloyd, PathDiff, and Ben Smyth for reporting the issue.
CVSS metrics
7 scores · 5 sources · 2 versions- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated6.3MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- NVDNIST6.3MediumCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/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
- OSV · DebianEcosystem advisory · calculated5.3MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
- NVDNIST5.3MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
- OSV · AlpineEcosystem advisory · calculated5.3MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
EPSS trend
Probability
0.13%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Percentile
2%
Versus all other CVEs
30-day change
Increase +0.01 pp
From 0.12% on 04-10-2026
Known exploited
Compare KEV catalogsNot in the CISA KEV catalog.
Not in the ENISA CNW catalog.
Not in the CIRCL catalog.
Public exploits
0 foundNo public exploits indexed.
Weaknesses
CWE · root causeAffected systems
Known conditions: network-reachable, no authentication, no user interaction (CVSS vector). Other conditions: not stated in public data.
Alpine1 product
- wolfssl< 5.9.4-r0
Debian1 product
- wolfsslAll versions (No fix recorded)
Ubuntu1 product
- wolfsslAll versions (No fix recorded)
Wolfssl1 product
- wolfssl≤ 5.9.2
4 vendors · 4 products