CVE-2026-69249

HIGHCVSS 8.7/10EPSS 0.25%

Last modified

CVE-2026-69249 is a high-severity vulnerability rated 8.7/10 on the CVSS scale. python-cryptography is a package designed to expose cryptographic primitives and recipes to Python developers. In versions 42.0.0 through 48.0.0, when resolving invalid certificate chains that include duplicate copies of self-signed certificates, the processing recursively invokes the same candidate, leading to an exponential blowup. EPSS estimates a 0.25% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Description

python-cryptography is a package designed to expose cryptographic primitives and recipes to Python developers. In versions 42.0.0 through 48.0.0, when resolving invalid certificate chains that include duplicate copies of self-signed certificates, the processing recursively invokes the same candidate, leading to an exponential blowup. Although the limitation that the chain depth cannot exceed a specified maximum depth prevents unbounded recursion and guarantees termination, an attacker-controlled certificate chain can lead the processing to easily take more than 5s to reject in testing. This amplification could form the basis for a resource exhaustion denial of service attack. The core issue arises in the recursive nature of build_chain_inner, which does not de-duplicate against previously analyzed candidates. As the correctness of validation is not affected, the integrity of a system cannot be compromised through this vector, only its availability. This issue is fixed in 49.0.0.

Metrics

Weakness Enumeration

Affected Software

Source: CNA advisory (CVE.org). NVD analysis pending.

VendorProductVersions
pycacryptography>= 42.0.0, < 49.0.0

References

Timeline

Published
Last Modified
Status
Awaiting Analysis

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-69249?
python-cryptography is a package designed to expose cryptographic primitives and recipes to Python developers. In versions 42.0.0 through 48.0.0, when resolving invalid certificate chains that include duplicate copies of self-signed certificates, the processing recursively invokes the same candidate, leading to an exponential blowup. Although the limitation that the chain depth cannot exceed a specified maximum depth prevents unbounded recursion and guarantees termination, an attacker-controlled certificate chain can lead the processing to easily take more than 5s to reject in testing. This amplification could form the basis for a resource exhaustion denial of service attack. The core issue arises in the recursive nature of build_chain_inner, which does not de-duplicate against previously analyzed candidates. As the correctness of validation is not affected, the integrity of a system cannot be compromised through this vector, only its availability. This issue is fixed in 49.0.0.
How severe is CVE-2026-69249?
CVE-2026-69249 has a CVSS score of 8.7/10 (HIGH severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.25% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2026-69249?
Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

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Source: NVD / NIST