uTLS is a fork of crypto/tls, created to customize ClientHello for fingerprinting resistance while still using it for the handshake. In versions 1.6.7 and below, uTLS did not implement the TLS 1.3 downgrade protection mechanism specified in RFC 8446 Section 4.1.3 when using a uTLS ClientHello spec. This allowed an active network adversary to downgrade TLS 1.3 connections initiated by a uTLS client to a lower TLS version (e.g., TLS 1.2) by modifying the ClientHello message to exclude the SupportedVersions extension, causing the server to respond with a TLS 1.2 ServerHello (along with a downgrade canary in the ServerHello random field). Because uTLS did not check the downgrade canary in the ServerHello random field, clients would accept the downgraded connection without detecting the attack. This attack could also be used by an active network attacker to fingerprint uTLS connections. This issue has been fixed in version 1.7.0.
History

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 10:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Refraction-networking
Refraction-networking utls
Vendors & Products Refraction-networking
Refraction-networking utls

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 03:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description uTLS is a fork of crypto/tls, created to customize ClientHello for fingerprinting resistance while still using it for the handshake. In versions 1.6.7 and below, uTLS did not implement the TLS 1.3 downgrade protection mechanism specified in RFC 8446 Section 4.1.3 when using a uTLS ClientHello spec. This allowed an active network adversary to downgrade TLS 1.3 connections initiated by a uTLS client to a lower TLS version (e.g., TLS 1.2) by modifying the ClientHello message to exclude the SupportedVersions extension, causing the server to respond with a TLS 1.2 ServerHello (along with a downgrade canary in the ServerHello random field). Because uTLS did not check the downgrade canary in the ServerHello random field, clients would accept the downgraded connection without detecting the attack. This attack could also be used by an active network attacker to fingerprint uTLS connections. This issue has been fixed in version 1.7.0.
Title uTLS ServerHellos are accepted without checking TLS 1.3 downgrade canaries
Weaknesses CWE-693
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 6.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N'}


cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: GitHub_M

Published: 2026-02-20T02:50:18.439Z

Updated: 2026-02-20T02:50:18.439Z

Reserved: 2026-02-17T01:41:24.607Z

Link: CVE-2026-26994

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-02-20T03:16:01.330

Modified: 2026-02-20T03:16:01.330

Link: CVE-2026-26994

cve-icon Redhat

No data.