Detections
Analytics
Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-103502
medium Nessus Plugin ID 366699
Synopsis
The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.Description
The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.- Improper Certificate Validation vulnerability in hexpm hex_core allows an attacker who can intercept HTTPS connections to impersonate hex.pm, repo.hex.pm or any other repository or API server to programs that use hex_core's default HTTP adapter on Erlang/OTP 24, or on OTP 25 when the operating system's CA certificates can't be loaded. hex_core:default_config/0 selects the built-in hex_http_httpc adapter. For an HTTPS request whose adapter config has no ssl option, hex_http_httpc:http_options/2 builds options that verify the server certificate against public_key:cacerts_get/0. When that call raises, the adapter prints a warning and sends the request without ssl options, so httpc uses the defaults of the ssl application, which before OTP 26 don't verify the server certificate. public_key:cacerts_get/0 doesn't exist on OTP 24, so every HTTPS request falls back there, and on OTP 25 it raises when no CA store is found. hex_core versions before 0.11.0 never set ssl options, so they don't verify the server certificate on OTP 25 and earlier whether or not a CA store is found. The fallback was intended and documented, but the documentation didn't make clear that it meant no certificate verification. Since hex_core 0.8.2 the README has warned that the built-in httpc adapter has insecure default settings and recommended other HTTP clients, and the adapter prints using default ssl options which are insecure on every request that falls back. hex_core 0.11.0 added certificate verification with the changelog entry Use secure SSL defaults for OTP 25+. Neither the README nor the warning says that the server certificate isn't verified, the README doesn't say which OTP versions the warning applies to, and on OTP 25 without CA certificates the warning tells users to upgrade to OTP 25 or later, which they already run. This advisory is published so that users who took those notices as general advice know their HTTPS requests weren't authenticated. This issue affects hex_core: from 0.1.0 before 0.20.0. (CVE-2026-103502)
Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.
Solution
There is no known solution at this time.See Also
Plugin Details
Severity: Medium
ID: 366699
File Name: unpatched_CVE_2026_103502.nasl
Version: 1.2
Type: Local
Agent: unix
Family: Misc.
Published: 10/17/2026
Updated: 10/17/2026
Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Tenable Cloud Security, Tenable Self-Hosted Container Security, Nessus
Risk Information
VPR
Risk Factor: Medium
Score: 4.3
Percentile: 53.51
CVSS v2
Risk Factor: Medium
Base Score: 6.4
Temporal Score: 5.4
Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N
CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-103502
CVSS v3
Risk Factor: High
Base Score: 7.4
Temporal Score: 6.8
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:U/RC:C
CVSS v4
Risk Factor: Medium
Base Score: 5.9
Threat Score: 2.1
Threat Vector: CVSS:4.0/E:U
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Vulnerability Information
CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:22.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:24.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:26.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:14.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:erlang-hex, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:rebar3, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:erlang-hex
Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/cpu, global_settings/vendor_unpatched, Host/OS/identifier
Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available
Vulnerability Publication Date: 10/12/2026
Reference Information
CVE: CVE-2026-103502