High severity · published Oct 7, 2026
CVE-2026-16516
wolfSSH ECDSA host key curve not validated against negotiated algorithm
7.4
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
wolfSSH does not validate that the ECDSA curve identifier in a KEXDH_REPLY host key blob matches the algorithm negotiated during key exchange. In ParseECCPubKey() (src/internal.c), the blob's algorithm string is used to derive the curve via NameToId/wcPrimeForId without checking against the negotiated ssh->handshake->pubKeyId, and the RFC 5656 curve identifier string is discarded via GetSkip() rather than compared. An active network man-in-the-middle attacker can substitute a host key blob containing a different ECDSA curve, causing the client to import the key on the wrong curve. Because the attacker controls the private key for the substituted curve, signature verification passes. Exploitation requires an active MitM position and a lax public key check callback (e.g., TOFU, algorithm-name-only check, or fingerprint match against the parsed key).
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 9% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
WO
wolfSSH · wolfSSL Inc.
through 1.5.0 · source: vendor, NVD
Affected product
WO
wolfSSH
wolfSSL Inc.
More from wolfSSH
9.1
CVE-2026-81535
wolfSSH SSH client accepts unsolicited forwarded-tcpip channel opens without an authorization check
8.8
CVE-2026-83742
wstrncat() unsigned integer underflow leads to an off-by-one null write in wolfSSH on non-Windows platforms
5.3
CVE-2026-84897
wolfSSH server accepts server-to-client DH group exchange messages from an unauthenticated client, causing pre-authentication primality-test CPU exhaustion and key exchange role confusion