CVE-2026-54872: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

LOW
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-rv5h-5m9v-ccwc
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CVSS 3.7
CWE-208
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-54872 is a LOW (CVSS 3.7) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-208: Observable Timing Discrepancy) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when two separate operations in a product require different amounts of time to complete, in a way that is observable to an actor and reveals security-relevant information about the state of the product, such as whether a particular operation was successful or not.. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2026-54872 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-54872
GHSA Identifier GHSA-rv5h-5m9v-ccwc
Severity LOW
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 3.7
CWE Classification CWE-208: Observable Timing Discrepancy
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 3.7

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality Low (C:L)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2026-54872

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2026-54872, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-208: Observable Timing Discrepancy, where two separate operations in a product require different amounts of time to complete, in a way that is observable to an actor and reveals security-relevant information about the state of the product, such as whether a particular operation was successful or not. In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

Issue summary: The generic elliptic-curve scalar multiplication used for ECDSA and SM2 signature operations with curves that do not have a dedicated implementation leaks information about the secret nonce through timing. Impact summary: An attacker able to measure signing times may learn information about the per-signature secret nonce, which over many signatures can, via a lattice / Hidden Number Problem attack, lead to recovery of the private key. CWE: CWE-208: Observable Timing Discrepancy Description: The generic elliptic-curve scalar multiplication used for curves that do not have a dedicated constant-time implementation pads the secret scalar with non-constant-time BIGNUM operations, so the time taken depends on the value of the secret scalar derived from the ECDSA and SM2 nonce. The leak is very small; observing it requires a large number of measurements. The effect is largest for curves whose group order lies on a machine-word boundary, such as brainpoolP384r1. Applications using ECDSA signing over the Brainpool and other generic prime curves, and SM2 signing on platforms that use the generic implementation, are vulnerable to this issue. The NIST curves P-256, P-384 and P-521 use dedicated constant-time implementations and are not affected. FIPS Impact: no The FIPS modules are not affected: the approved NIST curves used in the FIPS provider have dedicated constant-time implementations and do not use the affected code path.

References

NVD — CVE-2026-54872 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-54872
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/1a5bee8dc57430a2be69cd1ffe7fec6a62f4f179
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/3f7e1363dccec6f7732bb9e9fa471bb6e4aa68cb
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/7d83bc7764999dfd91b83b4f0815b45390422afd
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/8166827a78aad164a07aa86dea2b425403ced471
openssl-library.org/news/secadv/2026092... WEB
https://openssl-library.org/news/secadv/20260929.txt

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-54872?
CVE-2026-54872 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-208: Observable Timing Discrepancy.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2026-54872?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-54872?
CVE-2026-54872 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 3.7 (LOW) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-54872?
CVE-2026-54872 is classified under CWE-208: Observable Timing Discrepancy (Two separate operations in a product require different amounts of time to complete, in a way that is observable to an actor and reveals security-relevant information about the state of the product, such as whether a particular operation was successful or not.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2026-54872?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
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  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-rv5h-5m9v-ccwc",
  "modified" : "2026-09-29T18:31:44Z",
  "published" : "2026-09-29T18:31:44Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-54872" ],
  "details" : "Issue summary: The generic elliptic-curve scalar multiplication used for\nECDSA and SM2 signature operations with curves that do not have a dedicated\nimplementation leaks information about the secret nonce through timing.\n\nImpact summary: An attacker able to measure signing times may learn\ninformation about the per-signature secret nonce, which over many signatures\ncan, via a lattice / Hidden Number Problem attack, lead to recovery of the\nprivate key.\n\nCWE: CWE-208: Observable Timing Discrepancy\n\nDescription: The generic elliptic-curve scalar multiplication used for\ncurves that do not have a dedicated constant-time implementation pads the\nsecret scalar with non-constant-time BIGNUM operations, so the time taken\ndepends on the value of the secret scalar derived from the ECDSA and SM2 nonce.\n\nThe leak is very small; observing it requires a large number of\nmeasurements. The effect is largest for curves whose group order lies\non a machine-word boundary, such as brainpoolP384r1.\n\nApplications using ECDSA signing over the Brainpool and other generic prime\ncurves, and SM2 signing on platforms that use the generic implementation,\nare vulnerable to this issue.\n\nThe NIST curves P-256, P-384 and P-521 use dedicated constant-time\nimplementations and are not affected.\n\nFIPS Impact: no\nThe FIPS modules are not affected: the approved NIST curves used in the FIPS\nprovider have dedicated constant-time implementations and do not use the\naffected code path.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-54872"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/1a5bee8dc57430a2be69cd1ffe7fec6a62f4f179"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/3f7e1363dccec6f7732bb9e9fa471bb6e4aa68cb"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/7d83bc7764999dfd91b83b4f0815b45390422afd"
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  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://openssl-library.org/news/secadv/20260929.txt"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-208" ],
    "severity" : "LOW",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-09-29T16:17:08Z"
  }
}