Certificate Name Authorization Bypass (CVE-2026-115732)
Published Last modified Sources: pwn.watch, CVE.org
- Actively exploited
- Source: VulnCheck KEV (opens in a new tab) How we classify
What is affected, what to do
Incorrect authorization in the certificate-name matching of trapperkeeper-authorization, as used by Puppet Server, in the affected products, allows a client that holds a CA-signed certificate whose name extends or shortens an authorized hostname to be authorized as that host. This enables impersonation of other nodes and, in Puppet Enterprise, access to certificate-authority administration and remote command execution on managed nodes.
The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. Update Perforce Puppet Enterprise to version 2023.8.13, Perforce Puppet Enterprise to version 2025.12.1, Perforce Puppet Enterprise to version 2026.0.1.
- Affected
- Perforce Puppet Enterprise
lt 2023.8.0..2023.8.13 - Perforce Puppet Enterprise
lt 2025.0.0..2025.12.1 - Perforce Puppet Enterprise
lt 2026.0.0..2026.0.1
- Perforce Puppet Enterprise
- Fixed in
- Perforce Puppet Enterprise
2023.8.13 - Perforce Puppet Enterprise
2025.12.1 - Perforce Puppet Enterprise
2026.0.1
- Perforce Puppet Enterprise
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Metrics
9.0
Priority
XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.
Source: Vendor (CNA), CVSS v4
9.0
CVSS v4
Severity Critical on the scale from 0 to 10.
Source: pwn.watch, CVE.org
0.8 %
EPSS score
Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 54.9
Show all metrics
- Severity
- Critical
Priority (0–325)
The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?
Read in glossary- 99.12 Methodology
Exploit maturity
An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.
Read in glossary- actively exploitedSource: VulnCheck KEV (opens in a new tab) How we classify
XIEM Effective CVSS
XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.
Read in glossary- 9.0 Methodology
CVSS v4
CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.
Read in glossary- 9.0
EPSS score
The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.
Read in glossary- 0.8 %
- Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
EPSS percentile
The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.
Read in glossary- 54.9
- High — this CVE ranks above the median of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 36%).
KEV status
The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.
Read in glossary- —
- Published
CWE
CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.
Read in glossary- CWE-863, CWE-697
Detection rules
No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.
Classification under NIS2 and CRA
Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.
NIS2
NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.
Read in glossary- Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
CRA
The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.
Read in glossary- Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
ISO/IEC 27001
ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.
Read in glossary- Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.
Description
Incorrect authorization in the certificate-name matching of trapperkeeper-authorization, as used by Puppet Server, in the affected products, allows a client that holds a CA-signed certificate whose name extends or shortens an authorized hostname to be authorized as that host. This enables impersonation of other nodes and, in Puppet Enterprise, access to certificate-authority administration and remote command execution on managed nodes. Exploitation requires a certificate with a colliding name, which the certificate authority issues by approval or autosign.
Source: pwn.watch, cvelistv5, NVD (NIST)
Affected products
The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.
| Affected versions | Fixed in | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Perforce | Puppet Enterprise |
|
|
Vendors and products
Weakness classes (CWE)
CWE-863Incorrect Authorization
Class
The product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check.
Entry at MITRE CWE-863CWE-697Incorrect Comparison
Pillar
The product compares two entities in a security-relevant context, but the comparison is incorrect.
Entry at MITRE CWE-697
References & sources
- portal.perforce.coms/cve/a91Qi000003IaJRIA0/certificate-name-authorization-bypass
- pwn.watchpwn.watch: Puppet and OpenVox servers hit by critical RCE and client impersonation bugs (CVE-2026-115731, CVE-2026-115732)pwn-watch
- github.comAuthenticated RCE on OpenVox server via Event Deserialization (GHSA-ffr6-rwpm-p5wq)pwn-watch
- github.comFlawed Hostname Check allows Puppet Client Impersonation (GHSA-q4hm-33rc-572g)pwn-watch
- voxpupuli.orgCritical CVE Updates in all known versions of Puppet and OpenVoxpwn-watch
- help.puppet.comPuppet Server release notes (9.0.24.1)pwn-watch
- CVE.org (MITRE)CVE-2026-115731pwn-watch
- access.redhat.comCVE-2026-115732pwn-watch
- openwall.comOpenVox Server RCE and client impersonation vulnerabilitiespwn-watch
- neodyme.ioPulling the right strings for RCE on a Puppetpwn-watch
- news.ycombinator.comPulling the right strings for RCE on a Puppet (discussion)pwn-watch
Changes to this CVE
Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).
Receivedpuppet.com
CVSS V4.0: AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H
Weakness type: CWE-697, CWE-863
Description added or changed
Show 6 original changes
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD Type Action Before After Description added —Incorrect authorization in the certificate-name matching of trapperkeeper-authorization, as used by Puppet Server, in the affected products, allows a client that holds a CA-signed certificate whose name extends or shortens an authorized hostname to be authorized as that host. This enables impersonation of other nodes and, in Puppet Enterprise, access to certificate-authority administration and remote command execution on managed nodes. Exploitation requires a certificate with a colliding name, which the certificate authority issues by approval or autosign.CVSS added —AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/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:XWeakness type (CWE) added —CWE-697Weakness type (CWE) added —CWE-863Affected versions (publisher) added —New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/115xxx/CVE-2026-115732.json">CVE-2026-115732</a>Reference added —https://portal.perforce.com/s/cve/a91Qi000003IaJRIA0/certificate-name-authorization-bypassSource identifier: security@puppet.com
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<a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2026-115732"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2026-115732.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2026-115732 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>