CVE-2021-40528

Public on

Last Modified: UTC

Description

A flaw was found in libgcrypt's ElGamal implementation, where it allows plain text recovery. During the interaction between two cryptographic libraries, a certain combination of the prime defined by the receiver's public key, the generator defined by the receiver's public key, and the sender's ephemeral exponents can lead to a cross-configuration attack against OpenPGP. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to confidentiality.

A flaw was found in libgcrypt's ElGamal implementation, where it allows plain text recovery. During the interaction between two cryptographic libraries, a certain combination of the prime defined by the receiver's public key, the generator defined by the receiver's public key, and the sender's ephemeral exponents can lead to a cross-configuration attack against OpenPGP. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to confidentiality.

Statement

Please note that there was a mixup between this CVE and CVE-2021-33560. At this time, both CVEs should be assumed to refer to the same issue. More information will be provided in the near future. See the first link in External References for more information.

Please note that there was a mixup between this CVE and CVE-2021-33560. At this time, both CVEs should be assumed to refer to the same issue. More information will be provided in the near future. See the first link in External References for more information.

Additional information

  • Bugzilla 2002816: libgcrypt: ElGamal implementation allows plaintext recovery
  • FAQ: Frequently asked questions about CVE-2021-40528

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
Red HatNVD

CVSS v3 Base Score

5.9

5.9

Attack Vector

Network

Network

Attack Complexity

High

High

Privileges Required

None

None

User Interaction

None

None

Scope

Unchanged

Unchanged

Confidentiality Impact

High

High

Integrity Impact

None

None

Availability Impact

None

None

CVSS v3 Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Red Hat's CVSS v3 score or Impact different from other vendors?

My product is listed as "Under investigation" or "Affected", when will Red Hat release a fix for this vulnerability?

What can I do if my product is listed as "Will not fix"?

What can I do if my product is listed as "Fix deferred"?

What is a mitigation?

I have a Red Hat product but it is not in the above list, is it affected?

Why is my security scanner reporting my product as vulnerable to this vulnerability even though my product version is fixed or not affected?

My product is listed as "Out of Support Scope". What does this mean?

Want to get errata notifications? Sign up here.