REDHAT-BUG-2482286: High severity Erlang OTP vulnerability
Improper Certificate Validation vulnerability in Erlang OTP publickey (pubkeycert and publickey modules) allows a DNS nameConstraints bypass via subject CommonName fallback in TLS hostname verification.
Two flaws combine to allow a subordinate CA whose DNS nameConstraints are restricted (e.g. permitted;DNS:allowed.example.com) to issue a leaf certificate that an OTP TLS client accepts as a valid identity for an out-of-scope hostname (e.g. victim.example.com):
First, pubkeycert:validatenames/6 in lib/publickey/src/pubkeycert.erl only checks SAN DNS entries against nameConstraints. Per RFC 5280, a permitted DNS subtree only restricts certificates that contain a DNS-typed name. A leaf with no subjectAltName therefore trivially satisfies any permitted;DNS:... constraint regardless of its subject commonName.
Second, publickey:pkixverifyhostname/3 in lib/publickey/src/publickey.erl falls back to the subject commonName when no subjectAltName is present, extracting id-at-commonName attributes as presented IDs and matching them against the reference hostname. The strict pkixverifyhostnamematchfun(https) matcher does not suppress this fallback.
The result is that path validation accepts a CN-only leaf under a DNS-constrained intermediate (no SAN means the nameConstraints are not triggered), and hostname verification then accepts it via the CN fallback. The bypass is reachable from stock ssl:connect with verifypeer, a trusted CA, SNI, and the canonical strict https hostname matcher.
This issue affects OTP from OTP 19.3 before OTP 26.2.5.21, 27.3.4.12, 28.5.0.1, and 29.0.1 corresponding to publickey from 1.4 before 1.15.1.7, 1.17.1.3, 1.20.3.1, and 1.21.1.
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Upgrade
Upgrade
erlang/otp public_key (pubkey_cert and public_key modules)to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 26.2.5.21 - Upgrade
Upgrade
erlang/otp public_key (pubkey_cert and public_key modules)to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 27.3.4.12 - Upgrade
Upgrade
erlang/otp public_key (pubkey_cert and public_key modules)to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 28.5.0.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
erlang/otp public_key (pubkey_cert and public_key modules)to a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 29.0.1
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the severity of REDHAT-BUG-2482286?
The severity of REDHAT-BUG-2482286 is considered high with a score of 7.
How do I fix REDHAT-BUG-2482286?
To fix REDHAT-BUG-2482286, upgrade to the latest version of Erlang OTP that addresses the certificate validation issues.
What type of vulnerability is REDHAT-BUG-2482286?
REDHAT-BUG-2482286 is an Improper Certificate Validation vulnerability related to DNS nameConstraints.
What is affected by REDHAT-BUG-2482286?
REDHAT-BUG-2482286 affects the public_key module in Erlang OTP.
When was REDHAT-BUG-2482286 published?
REDHAT-BUG-2482286 was published on May 27, 2026.