Ciphertext integrity bypass via unchecked cached materials
Published Apr 20, 2026 · Updated Apr 20, 2026
Cryptographic downgrade in affected AWS Encryption SDK for Python releases allows local users to undermine ciphertext integrity via a shared cache. The caching materials manager reuses encryption materials created under a weaker client's policy without checking their algorithm suite against the requesting client's commitment policy. Exploitation requires two same-process clients with different policies to share one cache, the weaker client to warm it first, matching encryption contexts, default algorithm suites, and attacker-controlled ciphertext; a recipient can then decrypt a message different from the one encrypted.
Summary
What happened
Cryptographic downgrade in affected AWS Encryption SDK for Python releases allows local users to undermine ciphertext integrity via a shared cache. The caching materials manager reuses encryption materials created under a weaker client's policy without checking their algorithm suite against the requesting client's commitment policy. Exploitation requires two same-process clients with different policies to share one cache, the weaker client to warm it first, matching encryption contexts, default algorithm suites, and attacker-controlled ciphertext; a recipient can then decrypt a message different from the one encrypted.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-6550
- Published
- Apr 20, 2026
- Updated
- Apr 20, 2026
- Vendor
- Amazon Web Services
- Product
- AWS Encryption SDK for Python
- Classifications
- CWE-757, T1565.002
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 20, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 20, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=2 <=2.5.1
- Affected versionversion=3 <=3.3.0
- Affected versionversion=4 <=4.0.4
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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