CVE-2026-15055
Description
A flaw was found in Bouncy Castle for Java. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by providing a specially crafted input to the PKCS#8 / PBES2 decryptors. This input could specify an excessively high Key Derivation Function (KDF) cost, causing the decryptor to consume significant computational resources. This resource exhaustion can lead to a denial of service (DoS), making the affected system unresponsive or unavailable.
Statement
Bouncy Castle for Java is bundled as a cryptographic provider across numerous Red Hat products. The PKCS#8 / PBES2 decryptors honor an unbounded Key Derivation Function (KDF) cost supplied in the input, so a crafted PKCS#8/PBES2 blob forces excessive computation and a denial of service. Exploitation requires the application to decrypt attacker-supplied PKCS#8/PBES2 data. Note: Red Hat rates this Important (CVSS v3 7.5, A:H) versus the upstream CVEORG v4 score of 5.3 (Moderate, A:L).
Mitigation
Red Hat is not aware of a mitigation for this flaw other than updating the affected Bouncy Castle component to a fixed version (bc-java 1.85, LTS 2.73.12, or BC-FJA bcpkix-fips 1.0.12/2.0.12/2.1.12) once available for the affected product.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert: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).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 7.5 | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | N/A |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | N/A |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory); DoS: Resource Consumption (Other)
When allocating resources without limits, an attacker could prevent other systems, applications, or processes from accessing the same type of resource. It can be easy for an attacker to consume many resources by rapidly making many requests or causing larger resources to be used than is needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
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