liboqs: Uninitialized function-pointer dereference in OQS_KEM_encaps_derand for NTRU KEMs
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-47738 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | GitHub_M |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-11-06 22:17:51 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-11-06 22:17:51 UTC |
| Description | liboqs is a C-language cryptographic library that provides implementations of post-quantum cryptography algorithms. Prior to 0.16.0, OQS_KEM_encaps_derand can dereference an uninitialized encaps_derand function pointer when called on NTRU-HPS-2048-509, NTRU-HPS-2048-677, NTRU-HPS-4096-821, NTRU-HPS-4096-1229, NTRU-HRSS-701, or NTRU-HRSS-1373. The affected NTRU constructors omit the OQS_KEM.encaps_derand member because those schemes do not support derandomized encapsulation, OQS_KEM objects are allocated without zero initialization, and the wrapper in src/kem/kem.c checks only that the OQS_KEM pointer is non-null before calling through the residual heap value. An application is affected only if it instantiates one of those six NTRU KEMs and invokes OQS_KEM_encaps_derand on it. The supported impact is a calling-process crash and denial of service. This issue is fixed in version 0.16.0. |
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: 0.003010000 probability, percentile 0.230230000 (date 2026-11-08)
Problem Types: CWE-824 | CWE-824 CWE-824: Access of Uninitialized Pointer
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | [email protected] | Secondary | 5.3 | MEDIUM | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L |
| 3.1 | CNA | DECLARED | 5.3 | MEDIUM | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L |
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
Attack Vector
NetworkAttack Complexity
LowPrivileges Required
NoneUser Interaction
NoneScope
UnchangedConfidentiality
NoneIntegrity
NoneAvailability
LowCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Open-quantum-safe | Liboqs | affected < 0.16.0 | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs/pull/2460 | [email protected] | github.com | |
| github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs/security/advisories/GHSA-jr5q-r9qx-v738 | [email protected] | github.com | |
| github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs/commit/80ceff0207658eba98bae8eb22ca3... | [email protected] | github.com | |
| github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs/releases/tag/0.16.0 | [email protected] | github.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
No vendor comments have been submitted for this CVE.
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.