CVE-2026-54872
Published:September 29, 2026
Updated:October 15, 2026
Issue summary: The generic elliptic-curve scalar multiplication used for
ECDSA and SM2 signature operations with curves that do not have a dedicated
implementation leaks information about the secret nonce through timing.
Impact summary: An attacker able to measure signing times may learn
information about the per-signature secret nonce, which over many signatures
can, via a lattice / Hidden Number Problem attack, lead to recovery of the
private key.
CWE: CWE-208: Observable Timing Discrepancy
Description: The generic elliptic-curve scalar multiplication used for
curves that do not have a dedicated constant-time implementation pads the
secret scalar with non-constant-time BIGNUM operations, so the time taken
depends on the value of the secret scalar derived from the ECDSA and SM2 nonce.
The leak is very small; observing it requires a large number of
measurements. The effect is largest for curves whose group order lies
on a machine-word boundary, such as brainpoolP384r1.
Applications using ECDSA signing over the Brainpool and other generic prime
curves, and SM2 signing on platforms that use the generic implementation,
are vulnerable to this issue.
The NIST curves P-256, P-384 and P-521 use dedicated constant-time
implementations and are not affected.
FIPS Impact: no
The FIPS modules are not affected: the approved NIST curves used in the FIPS
provider have dedicated constant-time implementations and do not use the
affected code path.
Affected Packages
openssl (CONAN):
Affected version(s) >=3.4.0 <3.4.8Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 3.4.8openssl (CONAN):
Affected version(s) >=4.0.1 <4.0.3Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 4.0.3openssl (CONAN):
Affected version(s) >=3.5.0 <3.5.9Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 3.5.9openssl (CONAN):
Affected version(s) >=3.6.0 <3.6.5Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 3.6.5openssl (CONDA):
Affected version(s) >=3.5.0 <3.5.9Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 3.5.9openssl (CONDA):
Affected version(s) >=4.0.1 <4.0.3Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 4.0.3openssl (CONDA):
Affected version(s) >=3.6.0 <3.6.5Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 3.6.5openssl (CONDA):
Affected version(s) >=3.4.0 <3.4.8Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 3.4.8https://github.com/openssl/openssl.git (GITHUB):
Affected version(s) >=openssl-3.5.0 <openssl-3.5.9Fix Suggestion:
Update to version openssl-3.5.9https://github.com/openssl/openssl.git (GITHUB):
Affected version(s) >=openssl-3.6.0 <openssl-3.6.5Fix Suggestion:
Update to version openssl-3.6.5https://github.com/openssl/openssl.git (GITHUB):
Affected version(s) >=openssl-3.4.0 <openssl-3.4.8Fix Suggestion:
Update to version openssl-3.4.8https://github.com/openssl/openssl.git (GITHUB):
Affected version(s) >=openssl-4.0.0 <openssl-4.0.3Fix Suggestion:
Update to version openssl-4.0.3Related Resources (7)
Do you need more information?
Contact UsCVSS v4
Base Score:
6.3
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
HIGH
Attack Requirements
NONE
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Vulnerable System Confidentiality
LOW
Vulnerable System Integrity
NONE
Vulnerable System Availability
NONE
Subsequent System Confidentiality
NONE
Subsequent System Integrity
NONE
Subsequent System Availability
NONE
CVSS v3
Base Score:
3.7
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
HIGH
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
LOW
Integrity
NONE
Availability
NONE
Weakness Type (CWE)
Observable Timing Discrepancy
EPSS
Base Score:
0.26