GHSA-p93r-85wp-75v3 CVE-2026-5598
Bouncy Castle Has Covert Timing Channel Vulnerability
- Severity
- 0.0 / 10
- High · CVSS 4.0
- Exploit chance (EPSS)
- 0.90%
- Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 59.64% of scored vulnerabilities.
- Known exploited
- No
- Not in CISA's catalog
- Weakness
- CWE-385 Covert Timing Channel
- Fix
- Available
- 3 packages have a fixed version
Description
Covert timing channel vulnerability in Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. BC-JAVA core on all (core modules). This vulnerability is associated with program files FrodoEngine.Java.
This issue only affects users of the FrodoKEM algorithm involved in the decryption of encapsulations.
This issue affects BC-JAVA: from 1.71 to 1.80.1, 1.81, 1.82 to 1.83.
Fixed versions: 1.80.2, 1.81.1, 1.84
Affected versions
Maven
| Package | Vulnerable | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 | >= 1.81, < 1.81.1 |
1.81.1 |
| org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15to18 | >= 1.71, < 1.80.2 |
1.80.2 |
| org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk18on | >= 1.82, < 1.84 |
1.84 |
How to fix
Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.
org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 Maven → 1.81.1
- maven
<dependency><groupId>org.bouncycastle</groupId><artifactId>bcprov-jdk14</artifactId><version>1.81.1</version></dependency>- gradle
implementation("org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14:1.81.1")
org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15to18 Maven → 1.80.2
- maven
<dependency><groupId>org.bouncycastle</groupId><artifactId>bcprov-jdk15to18</artifactId><version>1.80.2</version></dependency>- gradle
implementation("org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15to18:1.80.2")
org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk18on Maven → 1.84
- maven
<dependency><groupId>org.bouncycastle</groupId><artifactId>bcprov-jdk18on</artifactId><version>1.84</version></dependency>- gradle
implementation("org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk18on:1.84")
Severity breakdown
CVSS 4.0 0.0
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:N/E:U/S:P/AU:Y/U:Red
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
- High
- Integrity (vulnerable system)
- High
- Availability (vulnerable system)
- None
- Confidentiality (subsequent systems)
- High
- Integrity (subsequent systems)
- High
- Availability (subsequent systems)
- None
- Exploit maturity
- Unreported
- Scope
- P
CVSS 3.1 7.5
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
Weakness
CWE-385: Covert Timing Channel
Covert timing channels convey information by modulating some aspect of system behavior over time, so that the program receiving the information can observe system behavior and infer protected information.
How to prevent it
- Architecture and Design: Whenever possible, specify implementation strategies that do not introduce time variances in operations.
- Implementation: Often one can artificially manipulate the time which operations take or -- when operations occur -- can remove information from the attacker.
- Implementation: It is reasonable to add artificial or random delays so that the amount of CPU time consumed is independent of the action being taken by the application.
References
Advisories
Packages
Other links
- github.com/bcgit/bc-java/commit/8692e6b2b191fc4aafa32545c7a78bdb9bf110c5
- github.com/bcgit/bc-java/commit/94abbd56413dfdac651fd878bc60253871ef5e87
- github.com/bcgit/bc-java/wiki/CVE%E2%80%902026%E2%80%905598
- github.com/bcgit/bc-java/wiki/CVE-2026-5598
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:12267
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:12269
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:18054
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:18055
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:18059
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:53644
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:53645
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:53646
- access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-5598
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi
- security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-5598.json
Timeline
- Published
- Last updated by the source
- Latest EPSS score
Related advisories
| Advisory | Severity | Why it's related |
|---|---|---|
| GHSA-c3fc-8qff-9hwx Bouncy Castle has an LDAP injection | Medium | Also affects org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 |
| GHSA-574f-3g2m-x479 Bouncy Castle for Java GOST 28147 CTR mode reuses keystream after 255 blocks | High | Also affects org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 |
| GHSA-67mf-3cr5-8w23 Bouncy Castle for Java on All (API modules) allows Excessive Allocation | Medium | Also affects org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 |
| GHSA-m44j-cfrm-g8qc Bouncy Castle crafted signature and public key can be used to trigger an infinite loop | High | Also affects org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 |
| GHSA-v435-xc8x-wvr9 Bouncy Castle affected by timing side-channel for RSA key exchange ("The Marvin Attack") | Medium | Also affects org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 |
| GHSA-8xfc-gm6g-vgpv Bouncy Castle certificate parsing issues cause high CPU usage during parameter evaluation. | High | Also affects org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 |
| GHSA-4h8f-2wvx-gg5w Bouncy Castle Java Cryptography API vulnerable to DNS poisoning | High | Also affects org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 |
| GHSA-wjxj-5m7g-mg7q Bouncy Castle Denial of Service (DoS) | Medium | Also affects org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 |
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