MLS membership checks compare a uint32 leaf_index as signed, admitting an out-of-range sender
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-17507 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | bcorg |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-10-02 08:17:01 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-10-02 18:17:03 UTC |
| Description | In Bouncy Castle for Java before 1.86, the MLS implementation (org.bouncycastle.mls) holds RFC 9420's uint32 leaf_index in a signed int, so a wire value with the top bit set decodes to a negative number. That is a legitimate encoding rather than malformed input, and it must still decode, since the MLS interop test vectors round-trip the full range. GroupKeySet.SecretTree.hasLeaf and Group.validateRemove compared the decoded value directly against the tree's leaf count, and a signed comparison treats any negative int as less than a positive bound, so an out-of-range sender passed the membership check. In the hasLeaf case the SenderData of an unprotected PrivateMessage could then drive LeafIndex.directPath through NodeIndex.parent() arithmetic that never reaches the tree root, growing the resulting node list without bound until the JVM exhausted its heap. A single small message from any current group member could therefore deny service to every other member of the group. Both comparisons now interpret the value as unsigned via Integer.toUnsignedLong, rejecting an out-of-range sender however it was encoded; well-formed leaf indices are unaffected. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v4.0 8.7 HIGH from 91579145-5d7b-4cc5-b925-a0262ff19630
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:Amber
EPSS: 0.003240000 probability, percentile 0.231550000 (date 2026-10-02)
Problem Types: CWE-195 | CWE-195 CWE-195 Signed to Unsigned Conversion Error
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 91579145-5d7b-4cc5-b925-a0262ff19630 | Secondary | 8.7 | HIGH | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C... |
| 4.0 | CNA | CVSS | 8.7 | HIGH | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/U:Amber |
CVSS v4.0 Breakdown
Attack Vector
NetworkAttack Complexity
LowAttack Requirements
NonePrivileges Required
NoneUser Interaction
NoneConfidentiality
NoneIntegrity
NoneAvailability
HighSub Conf.
NoneSub Integrity
NoneSub Availability
NoneCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:Amber
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Legion Of The Bouncy Castle Inc. | BC-JAVA | affected 1.73 1.86 maven | all |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com/bcgit/bc-java/commit/1eb83471eb01727bfdb944a5a46355cc77d55f44 | 91579145-5d7b-4cc5-b925-a0262ff19630 | github.com | |
| github.com/bcgit/bc-java/wiki/CVE%E2%80%902026%E2%80%9017507 | 91579145-5d7b-4cc5-b925-a0262ff19630 | github.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
Vendor Comments And Credit
Discovery Credit
CNA: Mirko Swillus on behalf of Alpha-Omega (alpha-omega.dev), using Scrutineer with an Anthropic Claude model provided through Project Glasswing (en)
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.