CVE-2026-33308

March 24, 2026, 7:28 p.m.

6.8
Medium

Description

Mod_gnutls is a TLS module for Apache HTTPD based on GnuTLS. Prior to version 0.13.0, code for client certificate verification did not check the key purpose as set in the Extended Key Usage extension. An attacker with access to the private key for a valid certificate issued by a CA trusted for TLS client authentication but designated for a different purpose could have used that certificate to improperly access resources requiring TLS client authentication. Server configurations that do not use client certificates (`GnuTLSClientVerify ignore`, the default) are not affected. The problem has been fixed in version 0.13.0 by rewriting certificate verification to use `gnutls_certificate_verify_peers()`, and requiring key purpose id-kp-clientAuth (also known as `tls_www_client` in GnuTLS) by default if the Extended Key Usage extension is present. The new `GnuTLSClientKeyPurpose` option allows overriding the expected key purpose if needed (please see the manual for details). Behavior for certificates without an Extended Key Usage extension is unchanged. If dedicated (sub-)CAs are used for issuing TLS client certificates only (not for any other purposes) the issue has no practical impact.

Product(s) Impacted

Vendor Product Versions
Mod Gnutls Project
  • Mod Gnutls
  • *

Weaknesses

Common security weaknesses mapped to this vulnerability.

CWE-295
Improper Certificate Validation
The product does not validate, or incorrectly validates, a certificate.

*CPE(s)

Affected systems and software identified for this CVE.

Type Vendor Product Version Update Edition Language Software Edition Target Software Target Hardware Other Information
a mod_gnutls_project mod_gnutls / / / / / / / /

CVSS Score

6.8 / 10

CVSS Data - 3.1

  • Attack Vector: NETWORK
  • Attack Complexity: HIGH
  • Privileges Required: NONE
  • Scope: CHANGED
  • Confidentiality Impact: HIGH
  • Integrity Impact: NONE
  • Availability Impact: NONE
  • CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N

    View Vector String

Timeline

Published: March 24, 2026, 3:16 a.m.
Last Modified: March 24, 2026, 7:28 p.m.

Status : Analyzed

CVE has been recently published to the CVE List and has been received by the NVD.

More info

*Disclaimer: Some vulnerabilities do not have an associated CPE. To enhance the data, we use AI to infer CPEs based on CVE details. This is an automated process and might not always be accurate.