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CVE-2026-12064

proto-default skips SSH verification

Published
Last modified
published
Not listed in CISA KEV
Fix
Fixed in 8.14.2, 8.16.1, 8.20.1
None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub
  • Exploitation: poc
  • Automatable: yes
  • Technical impact: partial

Summary

When a user invokes curl using a schemeless URL combined with `--proto-default` sftp (or scp), a disconnect occurs between the tool layer and libcurl. The tool layer incorrectly infers the URL scheme, which erroneously bypasses the initialization of critical SSH security options like CURLOPT_SSH_HOST_PUBLIC_KEY_SHA256 and CURLOPT_SSH_KNOWNHOSTS. Conversely, the libcurl runtime successfully honors CURLOPT_DEFAULT_PROTOCOL and establishes the connection via SFTP/SCP as specified. Because the tool layer skipped the security configuration, these SSH host verification options are silently omitted, causing curl to connect to an unverified SSH remote host without throwing an error.

Timeline

  1. CVE published
  2. CISA SSVC assessment

    Exploitation: poc · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: partial

  3. Record last updated

Affected versions

  • curl curl

    From 7.81.0 · fixed in 8.14.2; From 8.15.0 · fixed in 8.16.1; From 8.17.0 · fixed in 8.20.1

  • curl curl

    Version range not reported

  • curl curl

    8.20.0, 8.19.0, 8.18.0, 8.17.0, 8.16.0, 8.15.0, 8.14.1, 8.14.0, 8.13.0, 8.12.1, 8.12.0, 8.11.1, 8.11.0, 8.10.1, 8.10.0, 8.9.1, 8.9.0, 8.8.0, 8.7.1, 8.7.0, 8.6.0, 8.5.0, 8.4.0, 8.3.0, 8.2.1, 8.2.0, 8.1.2, 8.1.1, 8.1.0, 8.0.1, and 11 more

References 3

curl.se

hackerone.com