LiveActive security incident?Get immediate response
CVE Record

CVE-2026-50010: Netty's wrapping plain trust manager silently disables hostname verification

Netty is a network application framework for development of protocol servers and clients. Prior to versions 4.1.135.Final and 4.2.15.Final, SimpleTrustManagerFactory.engineGetTrustManagers() and related paths wrap any user-supplied plain X509TrustManager in X509TrustManagerWrapper, which extends X509ExtendedTrustManager but implements the 3-arg checkServerTrusted(chain, authType, SSLEngine) by discarding the SSLEngine and calling the 2-arg delegate. Because the object now IS an X509ExtendedTrustManager, neither SunJSSE's internal AbstractTrustManagerWrapper nor Netty's own OpenSslX509TrustManagerWrapper will re-wrap it to add endpoint-identification. Consequently, even though Netty 4.2 sets endpointIdentificationAlgorithm="HTTPS" by default, a client built with `SslContextBuilder.forClient().trustManager(somePlainX509TrustManager)` performs no hostname verification at all. Versions 4.1.135.Final and 4.2.15.Final patch the issue.

HighCVSS 7.5Not KEV-listedUpdated
Discuss exposureBack to CVEs
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

Some Netty-based clients may believe they are using normal HTTPS hostname checks while actually skipping them when a custom plain trust manager is supplied. That can let an intercepted TLS connection trust the wrong server certificate, risking disclosure of sensitive traffic. The sources identify fixed Netty releases 4.1.135.Final and 4.2.15.Final.

Executive priority

Treat as a high-priority dependency remediation for services that make outbound TLS connections with Netty. Prioritize internet-facing, payment, identity, API gateway, and service-to-service clients carrying sensitive data.

Technical view

Netty wraps user-supplied plain X509TrustManager objects in X509TrustManagerWrapper. In affected versions, the SSLEngine-aware checkServerTrusted path drops the SSLEngine and delegates to the two-argument check, bypassing endpoint identification. This affects Netty clients using SslContextBuilder.forClient().trustManager(plain X509TrustManager).

Likely exposure

Exposure is most likely in Java applications or frameworks using Netty as a TLS client and configuring a custom plain X509TrustManager. Applications using unaffected Netty versions, no custom trust manager, or vendor-patched downstream packages may not be exposed.

Exploitation context

The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. Practical abuse would require a network interception position and a client configuration matching the vulnerable trust-manager pattern. The main business risk is confidential data exposure through impersonated TLS endpoints.

Researcher notes

The vulnerable behavior is configuration-dependent, not a universal Netty TLS failure. Focus review on plain X509TrustManager delegation and whether endpoint identification is preserved through SSLEngine-aware trust checks. Evidence provided names fixed versions but not exploit-in-the-wild activity.

Mitigation direction

  • Upgrade Netty 4.1.x to 4.1.135.Final or later.
  • Upgrade Netty 4.2.x to 4.2.15.Final or later.
  • Apply relevant Red Hat errata for packaged affected products.
  • Review vendor guidance for downstream products embedding Netty.
  • Avoid custom plain X509TrustManager configurations unless hostname verification is confirmed.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory direct and transitive Netty dependencies in SBOMs and build files.
  • Check runtime artifacts for Netty versions below the fixed releases.
  • Search code for SslContextBuilder.forClient().trustManager with custom X509TrustManager usage.
  • Confirm staging TLS clients reject certificates for the wrong hostname.
  • Verify Red Hat package status against referenced errata where applicable.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
12

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-347: Exact CWE lookup

Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2026-50010 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
High
CVSS
7.5 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

2CVSS vectors
5Timeline events
2ADP providers
13Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: yesTechnical Impact: partial

CVSS vector scores

2 official scores

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
7.5CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N3.93.6GitHub_M
7.5CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N3.93.6redhat-SADP

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

7.5High
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2026-50010Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. ADP timelineredhat-SADP

    Made public.

  3. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  4. ADP timelineredhat-SADP

    Reported to Red Hat.

  5. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
other:ssvc
redhat-SADPnetty-handler: Netty: Improper trust manager handling leads to hostname verification bypass
other:Red Hat severity ratingcvssV3_1
  • 2026-06-12T16:02:13.735Z: Reported to Red Hat.
  • 2026-06-12T14:50:43.151Z: Made public.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
nettynetty>= 4.2.0.Final, < 4.2.15.Final, < 4.1.135.FinalListed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-347

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-347 · source CWE mapping

Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature

Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.

Open CWE intelligenceSame-CWE CVEs