# CVE-2026-5479: wolfSSL EVP ChaCha20-Poly1305 AEAD authentication tag

> wolfSSL fails to verify ChaCha20-Poly1305 authentication tags during EVP decryption, allowing attackers to bypass integrity checks and inject tampered data.

- **Severity:** High 7.6 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:A/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 10 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 22 Apr 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-5479, GHSA-3xr8-r75g-g9c6, JLSEC-2026-728, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-5479

## What is CVE-2026-5479?

CVE-2026-5479 is a high-severity vulnerability in Wolfssl Wolfssl, published on 10 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In wolfSSL's EVP layer, the ChaCha20-Poly1305 AEAD decryption path in wolfSSL_EVP_CipherFinal (and related EVP cipher finalization functions) fails to verify the authentication tag before returning plaintext to the caller. When an application uses the EVP API to perform ChaCha20-Poly1305 decryption, the implementation computes or accepts the tag but does not compare it against the expected value.

Weakness: CWE-354 (Improper Validation of Integrity Check Value)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-5479?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Wolfssl Wolfssl.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-5479?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-5479 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-5479 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Wolfssl Wolfssl

- [CVE-2024-5991](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-5991/): Buffer overread in domain name matching (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2021-37155](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-37155/): Security feature bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-36177](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-36177/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2014-2896](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-2896/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2014-2897](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-2897/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-5479 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-5479 is a high-severity vulnerability in Wolfssl Wolfssl, published on 10 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-5479 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Wolfssl Wolfssl. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-5479/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-5479/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-5479
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-5479
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-5479

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-5479/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.