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FreeBSD : Erlang/OTP -- public_key accepts non-CA certificate as intermediate issuer (9357a450-5a54-11f1-b886-4c526214c986)

high Nessus Plugin ID 317388

Synopsis

The remote FreeBSD host is missing one or more security-related updates.

Description

The version of FreeBSD installed on the remote host is prior to tested version. It is, therefore, affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the 9357a450-5a54-11f1-b886-4c526214c986 advisory.

 https://github.com/erlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-c99q-jmpx-v8qq reports:
 Erlang/OTP's public_key application contains a path-validation flaw where non-CA certificates lacking keyUsage extensions can be accepted as intermediate issuers.
 An attacker with an end-entity certificate issued by a trusted CA can exploit this to forge arbitrary leaf certificates, allowing public_key:pkix_path_validation/3 to validate fraudulent certificate chains and potentially compromise systems relying on SSL/TLS validation.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the FreeBSD security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Update the affected packages.

See Also

https://github.com/erlang/otp/security/advisories/GHSA-c99q-jmpx-v8qq

http://www.nessus.org/u?aa53281e

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 317388

File Name: freebsd_pkg_9357a4505a5411f1b8864c526214c986.nasl

Version: 1.3

Type: Local

Published: 5/28/2026

Updated: 5/30/2026

Supported Sensors: Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.0

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5.8

Temporal Score: 4.3

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-42789

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.4

Temporal Score: 6.4

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

CVSS v4

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7

Threat Score: 2.7

Threat Vector: CVSS:4.0/E:U

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:freebsd:freebsd:erlang-runtime28, p-cpe:/a:freebsd:freebsd:erlang-runtime27, p-cpe:/a:freebsd:freebsd:erlang-runtime29, cpe:/o:freebsd:freebsd, p-cpe:/a:freebsd:freebsd:erlang

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/FreeBSD/release, Host/FreeBSD/pkg_info

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 5/28/2026

Vulnerability Publication Date: 5/27/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-42789

IAVA: 2026-A-0522