CVE-2026-42501 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2026-42501
Vulnerability Scoring

Analysis In Progress

Attack Complexity Details

Attack Complexity:
Attack Complexity Analysis In Progress
Attack Vector:
Attack Vector Under Analysis
Privileges Required: None
No authentication is required for exploitation.
Scope:
Impact is confined to the initially vulnerable component.
User Interaction: None
No user interaction is necessary for exploitation.

CVE-2026-42501 Details

Status: Awaiting Analysis

Published on: 07 May 2026, 20:16 UTC

CVSS Release:

CVE-2026-42501 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2026-42501: A malicious module proxy can exploit a flaw in the go command's validation of module checksums to bypass checksum database validation. This vulnerability affects any user using an untrusted module proxy (GOMODPROXY) or checksum database (GOSUMDB). A malicious module proxy can serve altered versions of the Go toolchain. When selecting a different version of the Go toolchain than the currently installed toolchain (due to the GOTOOLCHAIN environment variable, or a go.work or go.mod with a toolchain line), the go command will download and execute a toolchain provided by the module proxy. A malicious module proxy can bypass checksum database validation for this downloaded toolchain. Since this vulnerability affects the security of toolchain downloads, setting GOTOOLCHAIN to a fixed version is not sufficient. You must upgrade your base Go toolchain. The go tool always validates the hash of a toolchain before executing it, so fixed versions will refuse to execute any cached, altered versions of the toolchain. The go tool trusts go.sum files to contain accurate hashes of the current module's dependencies. A malicious proxy exploiting this vulnerability to serve an altered module will have caused an incorrect hash to be recorded in the go.sum. Users who have configured a non-trusted GOPROXY can determine if they have been affected by running "rm go.sum ; go mod tidy ; go mod verify", which will revalidate all dependencies of the current module. The specific flaw in more detail: The go command consults the checksum database to validate downloaded modules, when a module is not listed in the go.sum file. It verifies that the module hash reported by the checksum database matches the hash of the downloaded module. If, however, the checksum database returns a successful response that contains no entry for the module, the go command incorrectly permitted validation to succeed. A module proxy may mirror or proxy the checksum database, in which case the go command will not connect to the checksum database directly. Checksums reported by the checksum database are cryptographically signed, so a malicious proxy cannot alter the reported checksum for a module. However, a proxy which returns an empty checksum response, or a checksum response for an unrelated module, could cause the go command to proceed as if a downloaded module has been validated.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2026-42501

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2026-42501 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2026-42501

No exploitability data is available for CVE-2026-42501.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2026-42501, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2026-42501, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

Confidentiality: None
CVE-2026-42501 does not compromise confidentiality.
Integrity: None
CVE-2026-42501 does not impact data integrity.
Availability: None
CVE-2026-42501 does not affect system availability.

CVE-2026-42501 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

Unknown

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