TLS peer certificate or hostname verification failure
Release trust validation accepts an untrusted certificate chain or wrong-host identity on a sensitive connection.
Candidate CWE: CWE-295 · CWE-297
Test hypothesis#
In an owned endpoint fixture, compare a valid certificate, an untrusted issuer and a wrong-host certificate while keeping the release, trust store and synthetic application request fixed. The valid control must connect. Observe the actual client decision and application exchange rather than treating a diagnostic command that continues after an error as proof.
Evidence required#
Record release provenance, expected hostname, certificate SANs, trust-store context, handshake decision and whether the protected request was transmitted. Preserve matched valid/invalid controls and all changes to lab CA, proxy and trust configuration.
Rule out false positives#
Missing pinning, intentional trust in a lab CA, debug overrides, instrumentation that disables checks, or a diagnostic client configured to continue after verification errors is not a release validation defect.
Playbook and command references#
- Client storage, logs, backup and transport trust — Measure where sensitive client state goes, who can retrieve it, and whether transport rejects invalid peers.
- DNS, TLS and email trust boundaries — Separate dangling records, transfer/recursion exposure, TLS identity and SMTP relay into controlled protocol tests.
Find the associated command snippets
Referenced by these target playbooks#
Report checklist#
- Capture the affected version, configuration, identities, and object ownership.
- Preserve a valid baseline and a negative control.
- Reproduce the forbidden data access, action, or state change on controlled fixtures.
- Explain the intended security rule and why the observed behavior violates it.
- State prerequisites, uncertainty, cleanup, and the smallest demonstrated impact.
Conditional ATT&CK mapping#
No direct ATT&CK mapping selected. Record the weakness and demonstrated impact without forcing an adversary-behavior classification. See the mapping guide.