What happened
wolfSSL versions 5.9.2 and earlier contain a flaw in the X.509 certificate validation logic where it fails to properly enforce NameConstraints extensions when there is an unconstrained CA tier between a name-constrained intermediate CA and the leaf certificate. wolfSSL incorrectly accepted certificates for hostnames they shouldn't be allowed to cover, due to a chain-walking state-machine bug that resets the validation state when encountering an intermediate without NameConstraints, thereby bypassing cryptographic delegation controls. This defect exists in the default build configuration that makes use of certificates where name constraint extensions are used. Thanks to Jack Lloyd, PathDiff, and Ben Smyth for reporting the issue.
Affected versions
wolfSSL: 0 through 5.9.2 (semver) Fixed: See vendor advisory.
Why it matters
Review the vendor advisory and exposure of the affected product to determine operational impact.
Detection & mitigation
- Apply vendor-provided updates or mitigations.
- Review affected product exposure and access logs.
Public PoC references
No public PoC reference has passed the current publication threshold.