CVE-2026-65629
Description
A flaw was found in jose. This vulnerability may lead to information disclosure because the library uses insufficiently strong key derivation parameters when exporting password-encrypted private keys. The export process relies on a hardcoded, low iteration count and a short cryptographic salt (random data added to protect against precomputation attacks), significantly weakening password protection. An attacker who obtains an exported key file can execute an offline password-cracking attack to recover the plaintext private key.
Statement
Red Hat rates this flaw as having a Moderate severity because an attacker must already possess an exported key blob and substantial computational resources to perform an offline attack, rather than achieving immediate unauthorized access. Exploitation is limited to workflows that utilize the library to export password-protected private keys into serialized formats. Although the symmetric cipher remains intact, the reduced key-stretching iterations significantly diminish the time required for brute-force passphrase guessing.
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Access Control
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism; Gain Privileges or Assume Identity
If an attacker can gain access to the hashes, then the lack of sufficient computational effort will make it easier to conduct brute force attacks using techniques such as rainbow tables, or specialized hardware such as GPUs, which can be much faster than general-purpose CPUs for computing hashes.
Frequently Asked Questions
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