Description
Improper Certificate Validation vulnerability in Erlang OTP public_key (pubkey_ocsp module) allows forged OCSP responses signed with an expired responder certificate to be accepted as valid.
OCSP response verification in pubkey_ocsp:verify_response/5 and pubkey_ocsp:is_authorized_responder/3 in lib/public_key/src/pubkey_ocsp.erl does not check the validity period (notBefore/notAfter) of the OCSP responder certificate. An attacker who has obtained the private key of an expired CA-designated OCSP responder certificate can forge OCSP responses that Erlang/OTP accepts as valid.
This affects TLS clients using OCSP stapling via the ssl application: a malicious or compromised server can present a revoked TLS certificate together with a forged OCSP response signed by an expired responder key, and the client will accept the revoked certificate as valid. It also affects applications calling public_key:pkix_ocsp_validate/5 directly, where the impact depends on the use case — server-side client certificate validation using this API may allow authentication bypass with a revoked client certificate.
This issue affects OTP from OTP 27.0 before OTP 27.3.4.12, OTP 28.5.0.1, and OTP 29.0.1, corresponding to public_key from 1.16 before 1.17.1.3, 1.20.3.1, and 1.21.1.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Erlang | OTP | 27.0, 1.16 | — |
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 | erlang | 1:27.3.4.12+dfsg-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | erlang | 1:27.3.4.1+dfsg-1+deb13u3 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | erlang | 1:27.3.4.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.2 | USN-8901-1 |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | erlang | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | erlang | 1:25.3.2.8+dfsg-1ubuntu4.8 | USN-8901-1 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | erlang | 1:24.2.1+dfsg-1ubuntu0.8 | USN-8901-1 |
Show 4 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | erlang | 1:22.2.7+dfsg-1ubuntu0.5+esm3 | USN-8901-1 |
| Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | erlang | 1:20.2.2+dfsg-1ubuntu2+esm4 | USN-8901-1 |
| Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | erlang | 1:18.3-dfsg-1ubuntu3.1+esm4 | USN-8901-1 |
| Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS | erlang | 1:16.b.3-dfsg-1ubuntu2.2+esm3 | USN-8901-1 |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Hardened Images 1 | erlang27 +38 | 27.3.4.17-1.hum1 | RHSA-2026:63160 |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES for SAP 16.0 | erlang | 27.1.3-160000.5.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:22082-1 |
| SLES 16.0 | erlang | 27.1.3-160000.5.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:22082-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | erlang | 28.5.0.4-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:11559-1 |
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | erlang27 | 27.1.3-2.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:10947-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | erlang | 27.1.3-160000.5.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:20907-1 |
Advisories 7
- WID-SEC-2026-1719 Erlang/OTP: Mehrere Schwachstellen ermöglichen Umgehen von Sicherheitsvorkehrungen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Oct 27, 2026
- RHSA-2026:63160 Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs bug fix and enhancement update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Oct 20, 2026
- USN-8901-1 erlang vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Oct 8, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:11559-1 erlang-28.5.0.4-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Aug 21, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:22082-1 Security update for erlang SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Jun 16, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:20907-1 Security update for erlang SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Jun 9, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:10947-1 erlang27-27.1.3-2.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Jun 4, 2026
References
- OCSP Responder Certificate Accepted After Expiry in public_key vendor-advisory related
- EEF CNA record for CVE-2026-42791 related
- OSV record EEF-CVE-2026-42791 related
- Erlang/OTP version ordering
- Introducing commit 2b1a742 in erlang/otp related
- Fix commit 7995f1f in erlang/otp patch
- Fix commit b3870e0 in erlang/otp patch