CVE-2026-58227: TLS/DTLS denial of service via unbounded recursion on cross-signed peer certificate chain
The Erlang/OTP ssl application does not detect cycles when reconstructing an incomplete peer certificate chain during a TLS or DTLS handshake. In sslcertificate:handleincompletechain/5, the received chain is passed to sslcertificate:buildcertificatechain/5, which walks issuer relationships via sslcertificate:docertificatechain/7 with no cycle detection and no depth limit. When the peer supplies two mutually cross-signed certificates in unordered form (A issues B, B issues A), the issuer lookup alternates between the two certificates and the pair of functions recurses indefinitely, growing the call stack and chain accumulator without bound.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can send a crafted certificate chain in a TLS or DTLS Certificate handshake message to exhaust available memory and crash the BEAM node. Only a TCP connection and a partial handshake are required; no authentication or completed handshake is needed, and both TLS/DTLS servers and clients are affected when processing peer certificate messages.
This issue affects OTP from OTP 23.2 before OTP 29.0.4, OTP 28.5.0.4 and OTP 27.3.4.15, corresponding to ssl from 10.2 before 11.7.4, 11.6.0.4 and 11.2.12.11.
Other sources
TLS/DTLS denial of service via unbounded recursion on cross-signed peer certificate chain
— Microsoft
Affected Software
Remediation
Patch Available
Patch Available
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the severity of CVE-2026-58227?
CVE-2026-58227 has a high severity rating of 8.7 on the CVSS scale.
How do I fix CVE-2026-58227?
To mitigate CVE-2026-58227, ensure that you update to the latest version of the Erlang/OTP ssl application that addresses this vulnerability.
What type of attack does CVE-2026-58227 facilitate?
CVE-2026-58227 facilitates denial of service attacks via unbounded recursion during TLS or DTLS handshakes.
Which applications are affected by CVE-2026-58227?
CVE-2026-58227 affects the Erlang/OTP ssl application used for handling TLS and DTLS protocols.
When was CVE-2026-58227 published?
CVE-2026-58227 was published on July 27, 2026.