CVE-2026-94419: Client session cache reference poisoning allows resumption with wrong server

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-94419 is a medium (CVSS 5.4) Improper Authentication vulnerability in wolfssl. EPSS estimates a 0.10% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 0.8% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 27-09-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 29-09-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

Without NO_SESSION_CACHE_REF, wolfSSL_get_session() does not return a session object but a ClientSession reference of the form {row, index, hash(sessionID)} into the process-global SessionCache, and ClientSessionToSession() validates it against that hash alone. Because the TLS 1.2 session ID is chosen by the server and sent in clear, AddSessionToCache() matches any other server's session on the same ID and overwrites the client-side entry with that server's master secret, cipher suite and version, while the handle continues to resolve; nothing on the write path compares the peer, the application's server ID or the WOLFSSL_CTX. Resuming through the handle then produces an abbreviated handshake in which no Certificate message is sent, so neither chain verification nor wolfSSL_check_domain_name() runs, and the attacker is accepted as the original server for the whole of that connection. Affected builds are those leaving NO_SESSION_CACHE_REF, NO_SESSION_CACHE, NO_CLIENT_CACHE and TITAN_SESSION_CACHE all undefined, which includes a plain ./configure, --enable-opensslextra and --enable-opensslall; fifteen integration options define NO_SESSION_CACHE_REF and are therefore not affected, among them --enable-all, --enable-distro, --enable-curl, --enable-nginx, --enable-haproxy, --enable-stunnel, --enable-wpas and the rest of the OPENSSL_COMPATIBLE_DEFAULTS family, and --enable-leanpsk, --enable-leantls, --enable-lowresource and --enable-tinytls13 disable the cache outright. The application must use the legacy reference flow, wolfSSL_get_session() or SSL_get_session() followed by wolfSSL_set_session(); wolfSSL_get1_session() returns the session object itself and is not affected, nor are wolfSSL_SetServerID() lookups. Only TLS 1.2 and below and DTLS 1.2 and below are reachable, since TLS 1.3 and ticket resumption with an empty ServerHello session ID both use a client-chosen cache key. The poisoned entry lives in the process-global cache, so it crosses WOLFSSL_CTX boundaries and persists until the entry is evicted or the session times out, 500 seconds by default. Releases v5.3.0 through v5.9.2 are affected; the fix adds a per-write generation counter to the cache and raises WOLFSSL_CACHE_VERSION from 2 to 3, so a cache persisted by an older build is rejected by a fixed one.

• CWE-287Improper AuthenticationWhen an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct.