Bug 2507558 (CVE-2026-55953)

Summary: CVE-2026-55953 erlang/otp: Erlang/OTP ssl client: Authentication bypass via unoffered anonymous cipher suite acceptance
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: high Docs Contact:
Priority: high    
Version: unspecifiedCC: eglynn, jjoyce, jpretori, jschluet, lhh, mburns, mgarciac
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Erlang/OTP ssl client. This vulnerability allows an on-path attacker to bypass server authentication in TLS 1.2 (and earlier) and DTLS connections. By tricking the client into accepting an unoffered anonymous cipher suite, the attacker can complete the handshake without a valid server certificate. This enables the attacker to read and modify all subsequent application traffic, leading to significant information disclosure and integrity compromise.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
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Bug Depends On: 2509267, 2509268    
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-07-27 16:02:12 UTC
The Erlang/OTP ssl TLS 1.2 (and earlier) and DTLS client does not verify that the cipher suite selected by the server in ServerHello was among the suites offered by the client in ClientHello. The client-side tls_handshake:hello/5 handler validates the negotiated protocol version and the downgrade sentinel but hands the server-chosen suite directly to ssl_handshake:handle_server_hello_extensions/9, which installs it without a membership check. The TLS 1.3 client path performs this check (per RFC 8446), so it is not affected.

An on-path attacker between the client and the intended server can respond with a ServerHello selecting an anonymous key exchange suite such as TLS_DH_anon_* or TLS_ECDH_anon_* that the client never offered. Anonymous suites do not require the server to present a certificate, so the entire verify_peer and cacerts configuration is bypassed: the attacker completes the handshake with its own ephemeral parameters, no certificate is validated, no hostname is checked, and ssl:connect returns {ok, Socket}. All subsequent application traffic is readable and modifiable by the attacker.

This issue affects OTP from 17.0 before 27.3.4.15, 28.5.0.4, and 29.0.4 corresponding to ssl from 5.3.4 before 11.2.12.11, 11.6.0.4, and 11.7.4.