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CVE-2026-55856 - MariaDB Connector/J: Cleartext password disclosure to a MITM on the initial-handshake

CVE ID :CVE-2026-55856
Published : Aug. 28, 2026, 11:17 p.m. | 1 hour, 13 minutes ago
Description :MariaDB Connector/J is used to connect applications developed in Java to MariaDB and MySQL databases. Prior to 2.7.14, 3.3.5, 3.4.3, and 3.5.9, when a Java application connects with sslMode=verify-full or sslMode=verify-ca, supplies a password, and does not configure serverSslCert or trustStore, Connector/J can accept an untrusted self-signed certificate through the fallbackToSystemTrustStore=true ephemeral trust manager and record its certFingerprint for later identity binding. The OK-packet and authentication-switch paths enforce the certificate fingerprint, but the initial-handshake path does not. HandshakeResponse.encode() can therefore build and send a mysql_clear_password response before checking certFingerprint != null && !isMitMProof(), sslMode, or whether the authentication plugin is resistant to a man-in-the-middle, and the initial path also bypasses restrictedAuth. An active man-in-the-middle or hostile server can present a self-signed certificate, claim to be MariaDB, select mysql_clear_password as the initial authentication plugin, and receive the full database password before the connection is rejected. This issue is fixed in versions 2.7.14, 3.3.5, 3.4.3, and 3.5.9.
Severity: 5.9 | MEDIUM
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