6.3
MEDIUM CVSS 4.0
CVE-2026-54887
DTLS server cookie bypass during startup window due to empty initial cookie secret
Description

Use of Default Cryptographic Key vulnerability in Erlang/OTP ssl (DTLS server) allows predictable DTLS cookie computation during the startup window, enabling source address verification bypass. On DTLS server startup, dtls_server_connection:initial_hello/3 initializes previous_cookie_secret to the empty binary (<<>>) instead of a random value. Because HMAC with an empty key is deterministic, anyone who observes the plaintext ClientHello can compute dtls_handshake:cookie(<<>>, IP, Port, Hello) and forge a valid DTLS cookie before the first rotation of the cookie secret. The DTLS cookie (RFC 6347 §4.2.1) is a denial-of-service mitigation that prevents spoofed source IPs from forcing the server to allocate state and perform expensive cryptographic operations; it is not an authentication mechanism. During the window from server startup until the first secret rotation (0 to 15 seconds), an attacker who can observe the plaintext ClientHello can bypass the source address verification, enabling DTLS handshake amplification with spoofed source addresses. This vulnerability is associated with program file lib/ssl/src/dtls_server_connection.erl and program routine dtls_server_connection:initial_hello/3. This issue affects OTP from OTP 20.0 before 29.0.3, 28.5.0.3 and 27.3.4.14 corresponding to ssl from 8.2 before 11.7.3, 11.6.0.3 and 11.2.12.10.

INFO

Published Date :

July 2, 2026, 4:06 p.m.

Last Modified :

July 2, 2026, 4:06 p.m.

Remotely Exploit :

Yes !

Source :

EEF
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-54887 vulnerability. Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the products that are affected, the information is not represented in the table below.

ID Vendor Product Action
1 Erlang otp
CVSS Scores
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 4.0 MEDIUM 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
Solution
Update Erlang/OTP to a patched version to resolve predictable DTLS cookie generation.
  • Update Erlang/OTP to a version with the fix.
  • Ensure random values are used for cookie secrets.
  • Apply security updates promptly.

We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).

Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.

The following list is the news that have been mention CVE-2026-54887 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.