CVE-2026-53712

CVE-2026-53712 is a high-severity security vulnerability in com.ongres.scram:scram-client (maven), affecting versions <= 3.2. It is fixed in 3.3.

Does this CVE actually affect you?

Kodem shows which CVEs are reachable and running in your applications, so you fix what's exploitable, not just what's listed.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Runtime intelligence, not another scanner.

Summary

OnGres SCRAM silent channel-binding authentication downgrade via unsupported certificate algorithms

A flaw in com.ongres.scram:scram-client allows an attacker capable of performing a TLS man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack to silently downgrade a connection from SCRAM-SHA-256-PLUS (with channel binding) to standard SCRAM-SHA-256 (without channel binding), bypassing strict client-side enforcement policies.

Component Breakdown

This occurs due to a two-part failure in TlsServerEndpoint when a server presents an X.509 certificate using a modern signature algorithm that lacks traditional WITH naming structures (such as Ed25519 or post-quantum algorithms):

  1. The internal hash derivation method fails to parse the algorithm name, swallows the resulting NoSuchAlgorithmException, and silently returns an empty byte array via the deprecated getChannelBindingData()` API.
  2. The client builder mistakenly interprets this empty byte array as an environmental absence of channel binding data rather than a cryptographic failure, falling back to non-channel-bound authentication.

Impact & Scope

This issue only impacts deployments where the downstream application layer explicitly enforces strict channel binding enforcement (e.g., channelBinding=require in pgJDBC).

Drivers operating under a "prefer" or "allow" policy (used by default) are structurally insulated from an unhandled exception since a fallback to standard SCRAM is within their expected configuration.

Impact

Affected versions

com.ongres.scram:scram-client (<= 3.2) com.ongres.scram:scram-common (<= 3.2)

Security releases

com.ongres.scram:scram-client → 3.3 (maven) com.ongres.scram:scram-common → 3.3 (maven)

Kodem intelligence

Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.

Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.

Already deployed Kodem?

See it in your environmentNew to Kodem? Get a demo →

Remediation advice

Update your project configuration to pull in version 3.3 or later of the SCRAM library, which introduces strict exception propagation and explicit policy controls.

If you are interacting with the ScramClient builder API directly (e.g., writing a custom driver or database extension):

  • Migrate Deprecated APIs: Stop using TlsServerEndpoint.getChannelBindingData(). Transition immediately to TlsServerEndpoint.getChannelBindingHash(), which correctly propagates NoSuchAlgorithmException up the stack.
  • Adopt Explicit Policies: Leverage the newly introduced ChannelBindingPolicy API during client construction. Do not rely on implicit parameter presence to dictate your security boundaries.
ScramClient client = ScramClient.builder()
    .advertisedMechanisms(serverMechanisms)
    .username(user)
    .password(pass)
    // Explicitly enforce strict boundaries if needed.
    .channelBindingPolicy(ChannelBindingPolicy.REQUIRE) 
    .channelBinding(TlsServerEndpoint.TLS_SERVER_END_POINT, certHash)
    .build();

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is CVE-2026-53712? CVE-2026-53712 is a high-severity security vulnerability in com.ongres.scram:scram-client (maven), affecting versions <= 3.2. It is fixed in 3.3.
  2. Which packages are affected by CVE-2026-53712?
    • com.ongres.scram:scram-client (maven) (versions <= 3.2)
    • com.ongres.scram:scram-common (maven) (versions <= 3.2)
  3. Is there a fix for CVE-2026-53712? Yes. CVE-2026-53712 is fixed in 3.3. Upgrade to this version or later.
  4. Is CVE-2026-53712 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-53712 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
  5. What actually determines whether CVE-2026-53712 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
  6. How do I fix CVE-2026-53712?
    • Upgrade com.ongres.scram:scram-client to 3.3 or later
    • Upgrade com.ongres.scram:scram-common to 3.3 or later

Stop the waste.
Protect your environment with Kodem.

Get a personalized demo
Get a personalized demo