---
title: "CVE-2026-16516: wolfSSH - Man-in-the-Middle"
description: "wolfSSH contains a man-in-the-middle vulnerability caused by improper validation of ECDSA curve identifiers in KEXDH_REPLY host key blobs, letting active network attackers bypass signature verification, exploit requires active MitM and lax public key checks."
url: https://panop.io/threat-heartbeat/CVE-2026-16516/
---

# CVE-2026-16516 wolfSSH - Man-in-the-Middle

wolfSSH contains a man-in-the-middle vulnerability caused by improper validation of ECDSA curve identifiers in KEXDH\_REPLY host key blobs, letting active network attackers bypass signature verification, exploit requires active MitM and lax public key checks.

CVSS base score 7.4 /10

High

CISA KEV

Not listed

Public exploit

None known

EPSS

0.12% chance of exploitation in 30 days

[View the NVD record ↗](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-16516)

## Details

Type

Man-in-the-Middle

Impact

Man In The Middle

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Published

7 October 2026

Updated

15 October 2026

Weakness

[CWE-345](https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/345.html)

## References

- [https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-16516](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-16516)
- [https://github.com/wolfSSL/wolfssh/commit/31d13697a608fa1bf9eec11aa6eff1503ade836f](https://github.com/wolfSSL/wolfssh/commit/31d13697a608fa1bf9eec11aa6eff1503ade836f)
- [https://github.com/wolfSSL/wolfssh/issues/1012](https://github.com/wolfSSL/wolfssh/issues/1012)

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## What this record can't tell you

- Whether you run the affected software, and where
- Whether an attacker can actually reach and exploit it
- The misconfigurations that never get a CVE number
- What it would cost the business, ranked into what to fix first

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