Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-12064

Crypto Weakness in Haxx Curl 7.81.0 – 8.21.0

Public PoCCrypto Weakness
Published
03 July 2026
Modified
07 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0034 26th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-12064 is a high-severity Improper Certificate Validation (CWE-295) vulnerability in Haxx Curl. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique SSH (T1021.004); ranked at the 26th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SC-8 (Transmission Confidentiality and Integrity) and SC-7 (Boundary Protection) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

When a user invokes curl using a schemeless URL combined with `--proto-default` sftp (or scp), a disconnect occurs between the tool layer and libcurl. The tool layer incorrectly infers the URL scheme, which erroneously bypasses the initialization of critical SSH…

more

security options like CURLOPT_SSH_HOST_PUBLIC_KEY_SHA256 and CURLOPT_SSH_KNOWNHOSTS. Conversely, the libcurl runtime successfully honors CURLOPT_DEFAULT_PROTOCOL and establishes the connection via SFTP/SCP as specified. Because the tool layer skipped the security configuration, these SSH host verification options are silently omitted, causing curl to connect to an unverified SSH remote host without throwing an error.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1021.004 SSH Lateral Movement
Adversaries may use [Valid Accounts](https://attack.
Why these techniques?

Bypasses SSH host key verification (known_hosts/SHA256) for SFTP/SCP, directly enabling unverified SSH remote service connections.

Confidence: MEDIUM · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-13034Same product: Haxx Curl
CVE-2024-0853Same product: Haxx Curl
CVE-2026-11564Same product: Haxx Curl
CVE-2026-8286Same product: Haxx Curl
CVE-2025-4947Same product: Haxx Curl
CVE-2025-14819Same product: Haxx Curl
CVE-2026-7009Same product: Haxx Curl
CVE-2025-5025Same product: Haxx Curl
CVE-2026-4873Same product: Haxx Curl
CVE-2025-5399Same product: Haxx Curl

Affected Assets

haxx
curl
7.81.0 — 8.21.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SC-8 Transmission Confidentiality and Integrity
  • SC-7 Boundary Protection
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)
  • SI-7 Software, Firmware, and Information Integrity
Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 12 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Enforces cryptographic integrity and confidentiality for remote sessions, directly mitigating the missing SSH host-key verification that allows unverified SFTP/SCP connections.

prevent

Boundary protection can restrict outbound SSH/SFTP traffic to trusted endpoints, limiting exposure when host verification is bypassed.

detect

Integrity verification of software components can detect tampering or misconfiguration in the curl tool that leads to omitted SSH security options.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-03 mostly match
prevents

Certificate-based authentication of users/services/hardware directly depends on correct validation.

PR.DS-02 mostly match
prevents

Proper certificate validation is a core mechanism for protecting data-in-transit confidentiality and integrity.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure development practices explicitly include implementing correct certificate validation logic.

ID.RA-09 partial match
prevents

Assessing authenticity/integrity of acquired software often relies on code-signing certificate validation.

PR.AA-04 partial match
prevents

Identity assertions conveyed via certificates require validation to be verified.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

prevents

Requiring issuance and validation of public-key certificates under an approved policy reduces the chance that certificates with improper validation will be trusted.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that reduce the attack surface for weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Derived transitively via CVE→CWE→STIG over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only).

Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
  • V-248574 YUM must be configured to prevent the installation of patches, service packs, device drivers, or OL 8 system components that have not been digitally signed using a certificate that is recognized and approved by the organization. via CWE-295
  • V-248575 OL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. via CWE-295
RHEL 7 (1 rule)
  • V-204447 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components from a repository without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. via CWE-295
RHEL 8 (2 rules)
  • V-230264 RHEL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components from a repository without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. via CWE-295
  • V-230265 RHEL 8 must prevent the installation of software, patches, service packs, device drivers, or operating system components of local packages without verification they have been digitally signed using a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is recognized and approved by the organization. via CWE-295

References