CVE-2026-103503

Hex trusts its bundled CA certificates when cacerts_path is set

MEDIUM
5.9
CVSS Score
Published: October 12, 2026 at 03:17 PM UTC
Updated: October 16, 2026 at 06:17 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorHex

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Severity
MEDIUM5.9
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%
SSVC
No known exploit

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.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

5.9MEDIUMEEF
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusDEFERRED
CWE
CWE-295

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