Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-42855

HighPublic PoC

Published: 12 May 2026

Published
12 May 2026
Modified
15 May 2026
KEV Added
Patch
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0005 15.9th percentile
Risk Priority 15 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2026-42855 is a high-severity Improper Authentication (CWE-287) vulnerability in Espressif Arduino-Esp32. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 15.9th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

arduino-esp32 is an Arduino core for the ESP32, ESP32-S2, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3, ESP32-C6 and ESP32-H2 microcontrollers. Prior to 3.3.8, the WebServer Digest authentication implementation in arduino-esp32 computes the authentication hash using the URI field from the client's Authorization header, without verifying…

more

that it matches the actual requested URI. This allows an attacker who possesses any valid digest response (computed for URI-A) to authenticate requests to a completely different protected URI (URI-B), bypassing per-resource access control. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.3.8.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
Why these techniques?

Digest auth URI mismatch enables authentication bypass against a web server, directly facilitating exploitation of public-facing applications.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v18.1

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-42854Same product: Espressif Arduino-Esp32
CVE-2024-53406Same vendor: Espressif
CVE-2025-71279Shared CWE-287
CVE-2024-13804Shared CWE-287
CVE-2024-57046Shared CWE-287
CVE-2026-1203Shared CWE-287
CVE-2026-1740Shared CWE-287
CVE-2025-43995Shared CWE-287
CVE-2026-7876Shared CWE-287
CVE-2025-0637Shared CWE-287

Affected Assets

espressif
arduino-esp32
≤ 3.3.8

Mitigating Controls

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-287

Detects unauthorized successful logons resulting from improper authentication implementations.

addresses: CWE-287

Documented procedures ensure personnel are trained on authentication mechanisms, tangibly lowering the risk of improper authentication being exploited.

addresses: CWE-287

Security awareness training instructs users on secure authentication practices and avoiding credential compromise.

addresses: CWE-287

Training on authentication mechanisms and best practices decreases the occurrence of improper authentication.

addresses: CWE-287

Non-repudiation requires strong authentication mechanisms to irrefutably attribute performed actions to specific individuals or processes.

addresses: CWE-287

Session content review can reveal authentication bypasses or failures in session establishment.

addresses: CWE-287

Review of authentication-related audit records can detect improper authentication mechanisms or bypasses.

addresses: CWE-287

Assessments check authentication mechanisms for correct implementation and effectiveness, reducing successful authentication bypass attempts.

References