Medium severity · published Sep 16, 2026
CVE-2026-81871
OpenTelemetry-Go: Log gRPC exporter ignores env TLS certs, bypassing mTLS/pinning
6.3
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
OpenTelemetry-Go is the Go implementation of OpenTelemetry. Prior to version 0.21.0, the exporters/otlp/otlplog/otlploggrpc package loads OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_CERTIFICATE, OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_CERTIFICATE, and related client certificate environment variables through loadEnvTLS into cfg.tlsCfg, but newGRPCDialOptions does not apply cfg.tlsCfg when creating gRPC transport credentials. The environment-only TLS path instead uses credentials.NewTLS with system roots and no configured client certificate, bypassing intended private CA pinning and mutual TLS unless the application also supplies WithTLSCredentials. A network attacker able to intercept or spoof the collector connection with a system-trusted certificate can read or alter log telemetry. This issue is fixed in version 0.21.0.
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
OP
opentelemetry-go · open-telemetry
< 0.21.0 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-81871
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-81871
github.com
https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go/commit/c65d435b43e5e6b82310e6b18dd4cdcb8ac63a0c
github.com
https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go/releases/tag/exporters/otlp/otlplog/otlploggrpc/v0.21.0
github.com
https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go/security/advisories/GHSA-w34q-cm8f-9c5x
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