Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-97687

Crypto Weakness

Published
29 September 2026
Modified
30 September 2026
CVSS Score v4 7.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0024 14th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2026-97687 is a high-severity Improper Certificate Validation (CWE-295) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 7.6 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Adversary-in-the-Middle (T1557); ranked at the 14th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-17 (Developer Security and Privacy Architecture and Design) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

urllib3 is an HTTP client library for Python. From 1.26.0 until 2.8.0, the proxy_ssl_context, proxy_assert_hostname, proxy_assert_fingerprint, ssl_context, cert_reqs, verify_mode, use_forwarding_for_https=True, and CERT_NONE configuration paths fail to remain separated because target-server TLS settings are incorrectly applied to the HTTPS proxy connection.…

more

The trigger is that an application uses an HTTPS proxy and configures target-server TLS settings that must remain separate from the proxy TLS handshake, including HTTPS forwarding with target-specific identity or credentials. Applying cert_reqs=CERT_NONE can overwrite proxy_ssl_context.verify_mode in place, and the mutation persists so later connections reusing the same context may connect to the HTTPS proxy without certificate verification. The attack mechanism is that an attacker intercepts and impersonates the HTTPS proxy after the effective proxy policy accepts the attacker's certificate. The impact is that the attacker can observe or modify forwarded traffic or receive a target TLS client certificate, while CONNECT tunneling still preserves the separate end-to-end target TLS connection. This issue is fixed in version 2.8.0.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1557 Adversary-in-the-Middle Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to position themselves between two or more networked devices using an adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) technique to support follow-on behaviors such as [Network Sniffing](https://attack.
T1557.002 ARP Cache Poisoning Credential Access
Adversaries may poison Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) caches to position themselves between the communication of two or more networked devices.
T1557.003 DHCP Spoofing Credential Access
Adversaries may redirect network traffic to adversary-owned systems by spoofing Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) traffic and acting as a malicious DHCP server on the victim network.
T1557.004 Evil Twin Credential Access
Adversaries may host seemingly genuine Wi-Fi access points to deceive users into connecting to malicious networks as a way of supporting follow-on behaviors such as [Network Sniffing](https://attack.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-10592Shared CWE-295
CVE-2024-22030Shared CWE-295
CVE-2024-8096Shared CWE-295
CVE-2024-12174Shared CWE-295
CVE-2026-61668Shared CWE-295
CVE-2026-86474Shared CWE-295
CVE-2025-3218Shared CWE-295
CVE-2024-56521Shared CWE-295
CVE-2025-10548Shared CWE-295
CVE-2024-43550Shared CWE-295

Affected Assets

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

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

Developer testing and evaluation directly checks whether implemented functions match their specifications.

Requiring a documented security architecture and design reduces the chance that implementation deviates from intended behavior.

PKI certificate issuance and acquisition under an approved policy establishes the trusted roots and processes needed for correct validation.

Protecting session authenticity depends on cryptographic mechanisms whose trust depends on correct certificate validation.

Requiring confidentiality and integrity protection of transmitted data drives use of properly validated certificates in protocols such as TLS.

Security function verification confirms that functions operate according to their defined expected behavior.

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.

ID.IM-02 partial match
prevents

Security testing and exercises help discover behavior deviations before deployment.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification can surface spec-violating flaws, while eliminating the weakness reduces some vulnerability backlog.

ID.RA-09 partial match
prevents

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

PR.AA-03 partial match
prevents

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

PR.AA-04 partial match
prevents

Identity assertions conveyed via certificates require validation to be verified.

PR.DS-02 partial match
prevents

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

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.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates verification against specifications, directly reducing expected-behavior violations.

prevents

Application security requirements explicitly define expected behavior that must be met.

prevents

Secure coding practices enforce adherence to functional specifications during implementation.

finds

Security testing in development and acceptance validates that functions behave as specified.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (higher-evidence rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (3 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. prevents CWE-295
  • V-248531 OL 8, for PKI-based authentication, must validate certificates by constructing a certification path (which includes status information) to an accepted trust anchor. prevents 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. prevents CWE-295
RHEL 7 (2 rules)
  • 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. prevents CWE-295
  • V-204448 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system 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. prevents 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. prevents 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. prevents CWE-295

References