liboqs: Heap out-of-bounds read in LMS/HSS signature verification via unvalidated signature length (hss_verify_inc.c:215)

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-104254
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-11-06 22:17:50 UTC
Updated2026-11-06 22:17:50 UTC
Descriptionliboqs is a C-language cryptographic library that provides implementations of post-quantum cryptography algorithms. From 0.11.0 through 0.16.0, builds configured with OQS_ENABLE_SIG_STFL_LMS=ON can read beyond a caller-supplied signature buffer when an untrusted truncated LMS or HSS-LMS signature reaches OQS_SIG_STFL_verify or OQS_SIG_STFL_alg_lms_verify. In hss_validate_signature_init() in src/sig_stfl/lms/external/hss_verify_inc.c, consumed-length checks do not ensure that the bottom-level q and C fields remain available, allowing up to 32 bytes to be read past the buffer. In version 0.16.0, is_hss_public_key() also reads at offset 8 after only a four-byte length check, allowing an over-read of up to eight bytes. No valid signature is required, but the public key must be syntactically plausible. The read data is consumed only by an internal hash and is not exposed, so the supported impact is a possible verifier crash and denial of service, not memory disclosure or acceptance of an invalid signature. This issue is scheduled to be fixed in version 0.17.0.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 5.3 MEDIUM from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

EPSS: 0.002910000 probability, percentile 0.218600000 (date 2026-11-08)

Problem Types: CWE-125 | CWE-125 CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary5.3MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
3.1CNADECLARED5.3MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Open-quantum-safe Liboqs affected >= 0.11.0, <= 0.16.0 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs/commit/df3eb80fe68d2e5db0ecf5d503082... [email protected] github.com
github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs/security/advisories/GHSA-wh5q-mpc8-67wf [email protected] github.com
github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs/pull/2507 [email protected] github.com
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