CVE-2026-42765: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-vm8w-j6fw-jc7r
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-476
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-42765 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when the product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is null.. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2026-42765 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-42765
GHSA Identifier GHSA-vm8w-j6fw-jc7r
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2026-42765

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2026-42765, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference, where the product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is null. In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

Issue summary: When a partial-chain certificate verification is enabled together with OCSP response checking for the whole chain, a NULL dereference will happen if the verified chain does not have a self-signed trusted anchor, crashing the process. Impact summary: A NULL pointer dereference can trigger a crash which leads to a Denial of Service for an application. When performing OCSP response checking for certificates in the verification chain, the code always tries to access the next certificate as the issuer. There is a check for a self-signed certificate. However with the partial chain verification enabled when the chain does not have a self-signed trusted anchor, the issuer will be NULL for the last certificate in the chain. A NULL pointer dereference then happens. This issue affects only applications which enable both OCSP verification of the certificate chain (X509_V_FLAG_OCSP_RESP_CHECK_ALL) and partial chain verification (X509_V_FLAG_PARTIAL_CHAIN) in the certificate verification. Both flags are disabled by default. For that reason, we have assigned Low severity to the issue. No FIPS modules are affected by this issue as the affected code is outside the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.

References

NVD — CVE-2026-42765 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42765
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/14340b7fa1d444615486bc137014b064e64ec334
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/eb345da18ce2216b2f3ade9c2bc23e068487fa97
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/openssl/security/commit/14340b7fa1d444615486bc137014b064e64ec334
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/openssl/security/commit/eb345da18ce2216b2f3ade9c2bc23e068487fa97
openssl-library.org/news/secadv/2026060... WEB
https://openssl-library.org/news/secadv/20260609.txt

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-42765?
CVE-2026-42765 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2026-42765?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-42765?
CVE-2026-42765 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-42765?
CVE-2026-42765 is classified under CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference (The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2026-42765?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-vm8w-j6fw-jc7r",
  "modified" : "2026-06-10T09:31:56Z",
  "published" : "2026-06-09T18:30:43Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-42765" ],
  "details" : "Issue summary: When a partial-chain certificate verification is enabled\ntogether with OCSP response checking for the whole chain, a NULL dereference\nwill happen if the verified chain does not have a self-signed trusted anchor,\ncrashing the process.\n\nImpact summary: A NULL pointer dereference can trigger a crash which leads to a\nDenial of Service for an application.\n\nWhen performing OCSP response checking for certificates in the verification\nchain, the code always tries to access the next certificate as the issuer.\nThere is a check for a self-signed certificate. However with the partial\nchain verification enabled when the chain does not have a self-signed trusted\nanchor, the issuer will be NULL for the last certificate in the chain. A NULL\npointer dereference then happens.\n\nThis issue affects only applications which enable both OCSP verification\nof the certificate chain (X509_V_FLAG_OCSP_RESP_CHECK_ALL) and partial\nchain verification (X509_V_FLAG_PARTIAL_CHAIN) in the certificate\nverification. Both flags are disabled by default. For that reason, we have\nassigned Low severity to the issue.\n\nNo FIPS modules are affected by this issue as the affected code is outside\nthe OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42765"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/14340b7fa1d444615486bc137014b064e64ec334"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/eb345da18ce2216b2f3ade9c2bc23e068487fa97"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openssl/security/commit/14340b7fa1d444615486bc137014b064e64ec334"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openssl/security/commit/eb345da18ce2216b2f3ade9c2bc23e068487fa97"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://openssl-library.org/news/secadv/20260609.txt"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-476" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-06-09T17:17:07Z"
  }
}