CVE-2026-6986 | Cesanta Mongoose GCM Authentication Tag tls_aes128.c mg_aes_gcm_decrypt signature verification

Exp

A security vulnerability has been detected in Cesanta Mongoose up to 7.20. This issue affects the function mg_aes_gcm_decrypt of the file /src/tls_aes128.c of the component GCM Authentication Tag Handler. Such manipulation leads to improper verification of cryptographic signature. The attack may be performed from remote. A high complexity level is associated with this attack. The exploitability is assessed as difficult. The exploit has been disclosed publicly and may be used. Upgrading to version 7.21 is capable of addressing this issue. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component. VulDB has contacted the vendor early and they confirmed quickly, that this issue got fixed already.

Published: 2026-04-25 Last update: 2026-04-29 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-6986 is rated Exploit Available (50/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.01%). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2026-6986

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-6986

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-04-26 — 0.01% —

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-6986

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
2.9 4.0 LOW
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/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:X Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Exploitation depends on constrained or hard-to-reproduce conditions.
Attack requirements (AT:N)
No additional preconditions are required beyond normal reachability.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No privileges are required.
User interaction (UI:N)
No user interaction is required.
Vulnerable system confidentiality impact (VC:N)
No confidentiality impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system integrity impact (VI:L)
Limited integrity impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability impact (VA:N)
No availability impact on the vulnerable system.
Subsequent system confidentiality impact (SC:N)
No confidentiality impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system integrity impact (SI:N)
No integrity impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system availability impact (SA:N)
No availability impact on subsequent systems.
Exploit maturity (threat) (E:P)
Proof-of-concept: public PoC exists; no reported exploitation and no known simplification tools.
Confidentiality requirement (CR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Integrity requirement (IR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Availability requirement (AR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Modified attack vector (MAV:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Vector (AV).
Modified attack complexity (MAC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Complexity (AC).
Modified attack requirements (MAT:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Requirements (AT).
Modified privileges required (MPR:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Privileges Required (PR).
Modified user interaction (MUI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base User Interaction (UI).
Modified vulnerable system confidentiality impact (MVC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VC metric.
Modified vulnerable system integrity impact (MVI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VI metric.
Modified vulnerable system availability impact (MVA:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VA metric.
Modified subsequent system confidentiality impact (MSC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SC metric.
Modified subsequent system integrity impact (MSI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SI metric.
Modified subsequent system availability impact (MSA:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SA metric.
Safety (supplemental) (S:X)
Not evaluated.
Automatable (supplemental) (AU:X)
Not evaluated.
Recovery (supplemental) (R:X)
Not evaluated.
Value density (supplemental) (V:X)
Not evaluated.
Vulnerability response effort (supplemental) (RE:X)
Not evaluated.
Provider urgency (supplemental) (U:X)
Not evaluated.
 — — [email protected]
3.7 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.2 1.4 [email protected]
2.6 2.0 LOW
AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:H)
Exploitation requires uncommon or highly specific conditions.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 4.9 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-6986

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-6986

GHSA-p5j9-fjff-qrmr · Severity: medium — A security vulnerability has been detected in Cesanta Mongoose up to 7.20. This issue affects the...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-6986

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2026-6986 unimportant priority: Debian including 2 source packages (mongoose, swupdate), 7 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 3. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-6986

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-6986

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cesanta mongoose >= 7.0, < 7.21 cpe:2.3:a:cesanta:mongoose:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-6986

URL Tags
https://github.com/cesanta/mongoose/releases/tag/7.21 Release Notes
https://github.com/dwBruijn/CVEs/blob/main/Mongoose/AESGCM.md Exploit Third Party Advisory
https://vuldb.com/submit/796231 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://vuldb.com/vuln/359529 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://vuldb.com/vuln/359529/cti Permissions Required VDB Entry
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