CVE-2026-95763 in Fabric Composer
Summary
by MITRE • 11/03/2026
An improper certificate validation vulnerability in HPE Networking Fabric Composer could allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to access sensitive information if certain preconditions outside of the attacker's control are met. Successful exploitation could allow an attacker to intercept transferred files and the stored credentials for remote servers.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/03/2026
The vulnerability identified within Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Networking Fabric Composer represents a critical failure in cryptographic validation mechanisms, specifically concerning the handling of Transport Layer Security certificates during communication with external services. This flaw is rooted in an improper certificate validation process where the application fails to rigorously verify the authenticity and integrity of digital certificates presented by remote servers or intermediate entities. In secure network architectures, such as those managed by Fabric Composer for data center automation, establishing a trusted channel via TLS is paramount to ensuring confidentiality and integrity. When this verification step is bypassed or implemented incorrectly, the system effectively trusts any certificate provided by an attacker-controlled entity that can position itself within the communication path. This type of flaw aligns directly with CWE-295, which describes Improper Certificate Validation, a common weakness in systems that do not properly check for revocation status, validity periods, or issuer trust during TLS handshakes.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe due to its potential to facilitate man-in-the-middle attacks without requiring prior authentication credentials from the attacker. Because the flaw allows an unauthenticated remote actor to intercept traffic, they can exploit weak preconditions outside their direct control, such as network routing changes or compromised DNS entries, to redirect legitimate service requests through malicious infrastructure. Once positioned correctly, the attacker can decrypt sensitive data streams that are otherwise protected by encryption protocols. This capability enables the exfiltration of confidential configuration files, management policies, and operational logs generated by the Fabric Composer system. The ability to intercept transferred files compromises the integrity of network automation workflows, potentially allowing an adversary to inject malicious configurations or disrupt service availability silently.
Furthermore, the vulnerability poses a significant risk regarding credential theft. HPE Networking Fabric Composer often stores credentials for remote servers it manages, including SSH keys, API tokens, and administrative passwords, which are essential for executing automated tasks across the data center infrastructure. If these stored credentials are transmitted in plaintext or if their encryption keys are compromised through this certificate validation failure, an attacker gains persistent access to a wide array of network devices. This escalation from information disclosure to credential compromise transforms the issue into a high-severity threat that can lead to full system takeover. The attack vector is consistent with MITRE ATT&CK technique T1078, Valid Accounts, as well as T1557, Adversary-in-the-Middle, highlighting how this flaw enables lateral movement and privilege escalation within the managed environment by leveraging stolen authentication material.
Mitigation strategies must focus on enforcing strict certificate validation policies across all outbound connections initiated by the Fabric Composer service. Administrators should ensure that the software is updated to the latest version provided by HPE, which likely includes patches for these cryptographic checks. In environments where immediate patching is not feasible, network segmentation and firewall rules can be employed to restrict communication with external services to known, trusted IP addresses and domains, thereby reducing the attack surface available for man-in-the-middle positioning. Additionally, implementing Certificate Pinning within the application configuration or codebase would prevent acceptance of any certificate other than those explicitly whitelisted by the organization. Regular audits of TLS configurations using industry-standard tools can help identify misconfigurations that might expose similar weaknesses in other services running on the same infrastructure.