Caddy is an extensible server platform that uses TLS by default. Prior to version 2.11.1, two swallowed errors in `ClientAuthentication.provision()` cause mTLS client certificate authentication to silently fail open when a CA certificate file is missing, unreadable, or malformed. The server starts without error but accepts any client certificate signed by any system-trusted CA, completely bypassing the intended private CA trust boundary. Any deployment using `trusted_ca_cert_file` or `trusted_ca_certs_pem_files` for mTLS will silently degrade to accepting any system-trusted client certificate if the CA file becomes unavailable. This can happen due to a typo in the path, file rotation, corruption, or permission changes. The server gives no indication that mTLS is misconfigured. Version 2.11.1 fixes the vulnerability.
History

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 17:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:caddyserver:caddy:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 9.1, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N'}


Wed, 25 Feb 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Caddyserver
Caddyserver caddy
Vendors & Products Caddyserver
Caddyserver caddy

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 16:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Caddy is an extensible server platform that uses TLS by default. Prior to version 2.11.1, two swallowed errors in `ClientAuthentication.provision()` cause mTLS client certificate authentication to silently fail open when a CA certificate file is missing, unreadable, or malformed. The server starts without error but accepts any client certificate signed by any system-trusted CA, completely bypassing the intended private CA trust boundary. Any deployment using `trusted_ca_cert_file` or `trusted_ca_certs_pem_files` for mTLS will silently degrade to accepting any system-trusted client certificate if the CA file becomes unavailable. This can happen due to a typo in the path, file rotation, corruption, or permission changes. The server gives no indication that mTLS is misconfigured. Version 2.11.1 fixes the vulnerability.
Title Caddy's mTLS client authentication silently fails open when CA certificate file is missing or malformed
Weaknesses CWE-755
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 8.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P'}


cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: GitHub_M

Published: 2026-02-24T16:08:20.569Z

Updated: 2026-02-24T16:08:20.569Z

Reserved: 2026-02-20T17:40:28.450Z

Link: CVE-2026-27586

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Analyzed

Published: 2026-02-24T17:29:03.793

Modified: 2026-02-25T17:14:19.867

Link: CVE-2026-27586

cve-icon Redhat

No data.