Description
A race condition in Epiphany allows a malicious website to bypass the TLS/SSL certificate warning page.
Epiphany registers the main-world script message handler "tlsErrorPage" so its internal TLS error page can implement "Accept Risk and Proceed". The handler was registered immediately before loading the error page, leaving a brief window where the previously loaded untrusted origin could still call window.webkit.messageHandlers.tlsErrorPage.postMessage(...). The only authorization check compares a numeric WebKit page id that increments predictably; an attacker can burst-guess ids and approve a certificate exception with no user click.
If a victim visits malicious site A that redirects to site B with an invalid certificate, site A can, for a few milliseconds, disable TLS certificate error warnings for host B until Epiphany is restarted, enabling man-in-the-middle or site spoofing for that host.
Upstream report: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/epiphany/-/work_items/2978
Proof of concept: https://beford.net/poc/ssl_poc.html
Fix: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/epiphany/-/merge_requests/2245 (register handlers on LOAD_COMMITTED). No fixed release tagged yet; reporter and maintainer describe all current versions as affected. Maintainer notes the risky registration timing dates to commit 1da1caed (Epiphany 45.x era); before that the handlers were always registered and similarly reachable from web content.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| GNOME | Epiphany | < 51.1 | 51.1 |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | epiphany-browser | 51.2-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | epiphany-browser | No fix yet | — |
| Debian 12 | epiphany-browser | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | epiphany-browser | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | epiphany-browser | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | epiphany-browser | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | epiphany-browser | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | epiphany-browser | No fix yet | — |
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | epiphany-browser | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | epiphany-browser | No fix yet | — |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | epiphany | 51.2-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:12379-1 |
Advisories 1
- openSUSE-SU-2026:12379-1 epiphany-51.2-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Nov 2, 2026