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CVE-2021-20230

24
FAUCET Score

CVE-2021-20230 describes a flaw in stunnel versions prior to 5.57, where improper client certificate validation occurs when both redirect and verifyChain options are enabled. This allows an attacker with a certificate from an unauthorized Certificate Authority to bypass redirection and access the tunneled service, primarily impacting confidentiality. With a CVSS score of 7.5 (High), this vulnerability is network-exploitable with low complexity, requiring no user interaction or privileges. There is currently no evidence of active exploitation, public exploit code, or significant community discussion surrounding this CVE.

Impacted Technologies

VendorProductVersion(s)CPE
< 5.57CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:stunnel:stunnel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

CVSS Data

CVSS version used by this source: 3.1

7.5HIGH

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

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
HIGH
Integrity Impact
NONE
Availability Impact
NONE
Exploitability Score
3.9
Impact Score
3.6
CvssVersion
3.1

Exploit Intelligence

EPSS Score
1.18%
Probability of exploitation in next 30 days
EPSS Percentile
64.4%
Percentile rank of EPSS score among Peer Group
As of 2026-07-27
Model: v2026.06.15
This CVE's current EPSS score of 0.0118 is in the 43rd percentile among its peer group of 51,551 CVEs.

Social Chatter

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.0 Reddit, 0.1 Bluesky, 0.1 Mastodon, and 0.4 GitHub mentions.

Media Mentions

No media coverage found for this CVE.

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.1 InfoSec Media, 0.0 Vendor Blog, and 0.0 Security Researcher mentions.

Remediation

Patch Available

Vendor Patches (6)

github_advisorypatch availablevia nvd_reference
View patch
microsoftpatch availablevia msrc
Product: 19476-16823Fixed in: 5.70-1
microsoftpatch availablevia msrc
Product: cbl2 stunnel 5.70-1 on CBL Mariner 2.0Fixed in: 5.70-1
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.1 Extended Update SupportFixed in: stunnel-0:5.48-6.el8_1
View patch
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.2 Extended Update SupportFixed in: stunnel-0:5.48-6.el8_2
View patch
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8Fixed in: stunnel-0:5.56-5.el8_3
View patch

Vendor Advisories (2)

microsoft2021-Feb/CVE-2021-20230Important

A flaw was found in stunnel before 5.57 where it improperly validates client certificates when it is configured to use both redirect and verifyChain options. This flaw allows an attacker with a certificate signed by a Certificate Authority which is not the one accepted by the stunnel server to access the tunneled service instead of being redirected to the address specified in the redirect option. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to confidentiality.

Feb 9, 2021
redhatCVE-2021-20230Important

stunnel: client certificate not correctly verified when redirect and verifyChain options are used

Oct 11, 2020

References

bugzilla.redhat.com / show_bug.cgi
Issue TrackingThird Party Advisory
github.com / mtrojnar/stunnel/commit/ebad9ddc4efb2635f37174c9d800d06206f1edf9
PatchThird Party Advisory
security.gentoo.org / glsa/202105-02
Third Party Advisory