All vulnerabilities
CVE-2026-103503GHSA-rw8q-hg7m-cxgr

Hex trusts its bundled CA certificates when cacerts_path is set

hexpm hex
CVSS
5.9Medium
ExploitationNo known exploitationNot in CISA KEV, which does not prove it is unexploitedCISA KEV
Exploit odds (EPSS)0.19%Chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 8% of CVEs. Scored 23 Oct 2026FIRST EPSS
Fixed in2.5.2Fixed versionCVE List
Published12 Oct 2026Updated 16 Oct 2026CVE List

What fixes it

A fixed version on one release line is not the upgrade target for every line. Check your exact version and any vendor backports.

Description

Improper Certificate Validation vulnerability in hexpm hex allows an attacker who can intercept HTTPS connections, and holds a certificate for a Hex host issued by a CA in Hex's bundled CA store, to impersonate that host to users who set cacerts_path to a CA store that leaves that CA out.

cacerts_path (HEX_CACERTS_PATH) is documented as the path to the CA certificate store, used instead of the CA bundle that ships with Hex. Hex.HTTP.SSL.ssl_opts/1 passes the configured store as the cacerts option, but builds the partial_chain callback from the bundled store whether cacerts_path is set or not. Hex.HTTP.SSL.partial_chain/2 accepts a server chain when any certificate in it has the same public key as a bundled CA certificate, so a chain that leads to a bundled CA passes verification although the configured store doesn't contain that CA. Hostname verification still applies.

This issue affects hex: from 0.20.2 before 2.5.2.

Text from GitHub Advisory Database

Affected versions 3

  • hexaffected: 0.20.2 before 2.5.2CVE List
  • hexaffected: c9b26a46928bfcd546773571e09c1d05f4cd9fb7 and laterCVE List
  • hex, otp>= 0.20.2, < 2.5.2GitHub

References 6