CVE-2026-22696 dcap-qvl has Missing Verification for QE Identity
Attackers can forge QE Identity data to bypass remote attestation verification, allowing acceptance of untrusted quotes in SGX or TDX environments.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-22696?
CVE-2026-22696 is a critical vulnerability in Phala-Network dcap-qvl, published on 26 Jan 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
dcap-qvl implements the quote verification logic for DCAP (Data Center Attestation Primitives). A vulnerability present in versions prior to 0.3.9 involves a critical gap in the cryptographic verification process within the dcap-qvl. The library fetches QE Identity collateral (including qe_identity, qe_identity_signature, and qe_identity_issuer_chain) from the PCCS. However, it skips to verify the QE Identity signature against its certificate chain and does not enforce policy constraints on the QE Report. An attacker can forge the QE Identity data to whitelist a malicious or non-Intel Quoting Enclave. This allows the attacker to forge the QE and sign untrusted quotes that the verifier will accept as valid. Effectively, this bypasses the entire remote attestation security model, as the verifier can no longer trust the entity responsible for signing the quotes. All deployments utilizing the dcap-qvl library for SGX or TDX quote verification are affected. The vulnerability has been patched in dcap-qvl version 0.3.9. The fix implements the missing cryptographic verification for the QE Identity signature and enforces the required checks for MRSIGNER, ISVPRODID, and ISVSVN against the QE Report. Users of the `@phala/dcap-qvl-node` and `@phala/dcap-qvl-web` packages should switch to the pure JavaScript implementation, `@phala/dcap-qvl`. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability. Users must upgrade to the patched version to ensure that QE Identity collateral is properly verified.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-22696?
11 open source packages ship an affected version, including dcap-qvl, @phala/dcap-qvl and @phala/dcap-qvl-node.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
dcap-qvl PyPI | All versions | 0.3.9 |
dcap-qvl PyPI | All versions | 0.3.9 |
dcap-qvl PyPI | All versions | 0.3.9 |
dcap-qvl crates.io | All versions | 0.3.9 |
dcap-qvl crates.io | All versions | 0.3.9 |
@phala/dcap-qvl npm | All versions | 0.3.9 |
5 more packages
@phala/dcap-qvl npm | All versions | 0.3.9 |
@phala/dcap-qvl-node npm | All versions to 0.3.3 | None |
@phala/dcap-qvl-node npm | All versions to 0.3.3 | None |
@phala/dcap-qvl-web npm | All versions to 0.3.3 | None |
@phala/dcap-qvl-web npm | All versions to 0.3.3 | None |
How do I fix CVE-2026-22696?
Upgrade dcap-qvl to 0.3.9 or later.
Is CVE-2026-22696 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-22696 exists.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-796p-j2gh-9m2q, PYSEC-2026-326.