CVE-2026-16516 PUBLISHED

wolfSSH ECDSA host key curve not validated against negotiated algorithm

Assigner: wolfSSL
Reserved: 21.07.2026 Published: 07.10.2026 Updated: 07.10.2026

wolfSSH does not validate that the ECDSA curve identifier in a KEXDH_REPLY host key blob matches the algorithm negotiated during key exchange. In ParseECCPubKey() (src/internal.c), the blob's algorithm string is used to derive the curve via NameToId/wcPrimeForId without checking against the negotiated ssh->handshake->pubKeyId, and the RFC 5656 curve identifier string is discarded via GetSkip() rather than compared. An active network man-in-the-middle attacker can substitute a host key blob containing a different ECDSA curve, causing the client to import the key on the wrong curve. Because the attacker controls the private key for the substituted curve, signature verification passes. Exploitation requires an active MitM position and a lax public key check callback (e.g., TOFU, algorithm-name-only check, or fingerprint match against the parsed key).

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:H/VA:N/SC:L/SI:H/SA:N
CVSS Score: 9

Product Status

Vendor wolfSSL Inc.
Product wolfSSH
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 0 to 1.5.0 (incl.)

Credits

  • zhangph (GitHub afldl) finder

References

Problem Types

  • CWE-345 Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity CWE

Impacts

  • CAPEC-475 Signature Spoofing by Improper Validation