Libkcapi: iv reuse in libkcapi one-shot symmetric cipher chunking causes cipher state reset across chunk boundaries
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-71225 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | redhat |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-08-05 13:24:47 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-08-06 15:37:22 UTC |
| Description | A flaw was found in libkcapi. When performing one-shot symmetric cipher operations on large inputs (over 64 KiB) in stateful modes such as Counter (CTR) or Cipher Block Chaining (CBC), the library improperly reuses the Initialization Vector (IV) for each internal data chunk. A remote attacker could potentially exploit this by making an application that uses libkcapi process specially crafted large inputs. This can lead to a significant weakening of data confidentiality, as the repeated IV use can expose relationships in encrypted plaintext, and may also affect data integrity by causing incorrect cryptographic processing. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v3.1 6.5 MEDIUM from [email protected]
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N
EPSS: 0.002380000 probability, percentile 0.148320000 (date 2026-08-06)
Problem Types: CWE-330 | CWE-330 Use of Insufficiently Random Values
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | [email protected] | Secondary | 6.5 | MEDIUM | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N |
| 3.1 | CNA | CVSS | 6.5 | MEDIUM | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N |
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Not specified | Not specified |
| CNA | Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Not specified | Not specified |
| CNA | Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Not specified | Not specified |
| CNA | Red Hat | Red Hat Hardened Images | Not specified | Not specified |
| CNA | Red Hat | Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Not specified | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-71225 | [email protected] | access.redhat.com | |
| bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi | [email protected] | bugzilla.redhat.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: This issue was discovered by Found by AISLE in partnership with Red Hat. (en)
Additional Advisory Data
| Source | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| CNA | 2026-04-26T18:00:31.000Z | Reported to Red Hat. |
| CNA | 2026-08-05T11:55:38.243Z | Made public. |
Workarounds
CNA: To mitigate this issue, applications using `libkcapi` should avoid the one-shot symmetric cipher APIs for inputs exceeding 64 KiB when continuous-message semantics are critical. Instead, prefer the streaming interface for processing large messages, or ensure one-shot inputs remain below the internal chunking threshold to guarantee the IV is applied consistently throughout the operation.