Vulnerability in Wolfssl Inc. Wolfengine

CVE-2026-81020

wolfEngine before 1.4.1 generates the 8-byte explicit AES-GCM nonce once when the TLS write key is set and never increments it per record. As a result every TLS 1.2 and DTLS 1.2 AES-GCM record within a connection is encrypted under an identical key and nonce pair. Reusing a GCM key and nonce discloses the keystream (the XOR of two ciphertexts equals the XOR of their plaintexts, so one known record recovers the others) and leaks the GHASH authentication key, enabling authentication tag forgery. AES-CCM, TLS 1.3, and non-TLS use of the cipher are not affected.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.4 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-81020?
CVE-2026-81020 is a high-severity vulnerability in Wolfssl Inc. Wolfengine, classified under Reusing a Nonce, Key Pair in Encryption. CVSS score: 7.4/10. Published 2026-08-28.
How severe is CVE-2026-81020?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.4 out of 10.