The product does not check or incorrectly checks the revocation status of a certificate, which may cause it to use a certificate that has been compromised.
An improper check for certificate revocation is a far more serious flaw than related certificate failures. This is because the use of any revoked certificate is almost certainly malicious. The most common reason for certificate revocation is compromise of the system in question, with the result that no legitimate servers will be using a revoked certificate, unless they are sorely out of sync.

Primary

Implementation
When the product uses certificate pinning, the developer might not properly validate all relevant components of the certificate before pinning the certificate. This can make it difficult or expensive to test after the pinning is complete.

Implementation
REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic.

Medium

Access Control
Gain Privileges or Assume Identity
Trust may be assigned to an entity who is not who it claims to be.

Integrity
Other
Other
Data from an untrusted (and possibly malicious) source may be integrated.

Confidentiality
Read Application Data
Data may be disclosed to an entity impersonating a trusted entity, resulting in information disclosure.

Automated Static Analysis
Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.)
High

Architecture and Design
Ensure that certificates are checked for revoked status.

Implementation
If certificate pinning is being used, ensure that all relevant properties of the certificate are fully validated before the certificate is pinned, including the revoked status.

The following OpenSSL code ensures that there is a certificate before continuing execution.

if (cert = SSL_get_peer_certificate(ssl)) {

// got a certificate, do secret things

Because this code does not use SSL_get_verify_results() to check the certificate, it could accept certificates that have been revoked (X509_V_ERR_CERT_REVOKED). The product could be communicating with a malicious host.

CVE-2011-2014
LDAP-over-SSL implementation does not check Certificate Revocation List (CRL), allowing spoofing using a revoked certificate.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2011-2014

CVE-2011-0199
Operating system does not check Certificate Revocation List (CRL) in some cases, allowing spoofing using a revoked certificate.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2011-0199

CVE-2010-5185
Antivirus product does not check whether certificates from signed executables have been revoked.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2010-5185

CVE-2009-3046
Web browser does not check if any intermediate certificates are revoked.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-3046

CVE-2009-0161
chain: Ruby module for OCSP misinterprets a response, preventing detection of a revoked certificate.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-0161

CVE-2011-2701
chain: incorrect parsing of replies from OCSP responders allows bypass using a revoked certificate.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2011-2701

CVE-2011-0935
Router can permanently cache certain public keys, which would allow bypass if the certificate is later revoked.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2011-0935

CVE-2009-1358
chain: OS package manager does not properly check the return value, allowing bypass using a revoked certificate.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-1358

CVE-2009-0642
chain: language interpreter does not properly check the return value from an OSCP function, allowing bypass using a revoked certificate.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-0642

CVE-2008-4679
chain: web service component does not call the expected method, which prevents a check for revoked certificates.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-4679

CVE-2006-4410
Certificate revocation list not searched for certain certificates.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2006-4410

CVE-2006-4409
Product cannot access certificate revocation list when an HTTP proxy is being used.
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2006-4409

Failure to check for certificate revocation

Allowed
This CWE entry is at the Base level of abstraction, which is a preferred level of abstraction for mapping to the root causes of vulnerabilities.
Carefully read both the name and description to ensure that this mapping is an appropriate fit. Do not try to 'force' a mapping to a lower-level Base/Variant simply to comply with this preferred level of abstraction.

CLASP
2006-07-19
Draft 3
2006-07-19

Eric Dalci
Cigital
2008-07-01
updated Time_of_Introduction

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2008-09-08
updated Common_Consequences, Relationships, Other_Notes, Taxonomy_Mappings

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2009-03-10
updated Description, Name, Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2009-05-27
updated Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2010-12-13
updated Other_Notes

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2011-06-01
updated Common_Consequences

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2012-05-11
updated References, Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2013-02-21
updated Applicable_Platforms, Demonstrative_Examples, Description, Observed_Examples, Other_Notes, Relationships, Type

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2013-07-17
updated Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2014-07-30
updated Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2017-11-08
updated Demonstrative_Examples, Modes_of_Introduction, Relationships, Type

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2018-03-27
updated Modes_of_Introduction, Potential_Mitigations, Time_of_Introduction

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2019-09-19
updated Demonstrative_Examples

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2020-02-24
updated References, Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2023-01-31
updated Demonstrative_Examples, Description, Modes_of_Introduction

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2023-04-27
updated Detection_Factors, Relationships, Time_of_Introduction

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2023-06-29
updated Mapping_Notes

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2025-12-11
4.19
2025-12-11
updated Applicable_Platforms, Relationships, Weakness_Ordinalities

Failure to Check for Certificate Revocation