NGINX ngx_http_ssl_module vulnerability

Description

Description When NGINX Plus or NGINX Open Source is configured with ssl_session_cache shared:name:size without an explicit ssl_session_ticket_key file directives to automatically rotate SSL session ticket keys, a remote unauthenticated attacker is able to forge client SSL sessions in a non-deterministic manner that is beyond the attacker's control. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to bypass verification of client certificates. Impact This vulnerability can lead to the exposure of resources or functionality to unintended actors, possibly providing attackers with access to sensitive information. There is no control plane exposure; this is a data plane issue only. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated.

Scores

EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)

0.25% · top 84% of all CVEs (5 Nov 2026)

CISA SSVC

Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial

The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.3.

Weakness

• CWE-908 Use of Uninitialized Resource (opens in a new tab)All about CWE-908 and its CVEs

Affected products

• F5 · NGINX Plus

  • affected 37.1.0 – < 37.1.0.1
  • affected 37.0.0 – < 37.0.5.1
  • affected R36 – < *
  • affected R35 – < *
  • affected R34 – < *
  • affected R33 – < *

• F5 · NGINX Open Source

  • affected 1.31.0 – < 1.31.7
  • affected 1.30.0 – < 1.30.6
  • affected 1.23.3 – < *

What to do

Workaround: Do not enable automatic rotation of SSL session ticket keys: option a) remove the "ssl_session_cache shared:name:size" directive; https://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_ssl_module.html#ssl_session_cache option b) switch to loading static ticket keys from a file using the "ssl_session_ticket_key" directive. https://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_ssl_module.html#ssl_session_ticket_key Systems that disable session tickets ("ssl_session_tickets off;") are not affected. https://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_ssl_module.html#ssl_session_tickets

References (1)

• https://my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K000162606 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisory

Sources

The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.

• CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
• CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
• NVD (opens in a new tab)
• FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
• OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
• GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
• CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)

Badge for a README or a ticket

[![CVE-2026-97629](https://trackcve.app/badge/CVE-2026-97629.svg)](https://trackcve.app/cve/CVE-2026-97629)

Record last updated 29 Oct 2026, 16:59 UTC.