CVE-2016-1000342: Bouncy Castle Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-qcj7-g2j5-g7r3
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-347
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2016-1000342 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-347: Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature) affecting Bouncy Castle libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves in bouncy castle jce provider ecdsa does not fully validate asn.1 encoding of signature on verification. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.56.

CVE-2016-1000342 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2016-1000342
GHSA Identifier GHSA-qcj7-g2j5-g7r3
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-347: Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature
Affected Product Bouncy Castle
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N).

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

How to Fix CVE-2016-1000342

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

org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 fixed: 1.56 
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.bouncycastle</groupId>
    <artifactId>bcprov-jdk14</artifactId>
    <version>1.56</version>
</dependency>
org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15 fixed: 1.56 
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.bouncycastle</groupId>
    <artifactId>bcprov-jdk15</artifactId>
    <version>1.56</version>
</dependency>
org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15on fixed: 1.56 
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.bouncycastle</groupId>
    <artifactId>bcprov-jdk15on</artifactId>
    <version>1.56</version>
</dependency>
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 -Dincludes=org.bouncycastle

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2016-1000342, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.bouncycastle

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Bouncy Castle in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.56), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.bouncycastle 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-347: Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature, where the product does not verify, or incorrectly verifies, the cryptographic signature for data. In Bouncy Castle, 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

In the Bouncy Castle JCE Provider version 1.55 and earlier ECDSA does not fully validate ASN.1 encoding of signature on verification. It is possible to inject extra elements in the sequence making up the signature and still have it validate, which in some cases may allow the introduction of 'invisible' data into a signed structure.

CVE-2016-1000342 Affected Bouncy Castle Versions

3 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.56
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14
maven/org.bouncycastle/bcprov-jdk14
Maven
< 1.56
1.56
org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15
maven/org.bouncycastle/bcprov-jdk15
Maven
< 1.56
1.56
org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15on
maven/org.bouncycastle/bcprov-jdk15on
Maven
< 1.56
1.56

References

NVD — CVE-2016-1000342 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-1000342
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/bcgit/bc-java/commit/843c2e60f67d71faf81d236f448ebbe56c62c647#diff-25c3c78db788365f36839b3f2d3016b9
access.redhat.com/errata/rhsa-2018:26... WEB
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2669
access.redhat.com/errata/rhsa-2018:29... WEB
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2927
Bouncy Castle Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/bcgit/bc-java
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/07/msg00009.html
Bouncy Castle Security Information SECURITY
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20181127-0004
usn.ubuntu.com/3727-1 WEB
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3727-1
Bouncy Castle Security Information SECURITY
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2020.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2016-1000342?
CVE-2016-1000342 is a security vulnerability in Bouncy Castle involving In Bouncy Castle JCE Provider ECDSA does not fully validate ASN.1 encoding of signature on verification under CWE-347: Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature.
Which Bouncy Castle versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.56 across affected packages: org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14, org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15, org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15on.
What version fixes CVE-2016-1000342?
Upgrading to 1.56 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is bcprov-jdk14 affected?
Yes, org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 is affected in releases prior to 1.56. Upgrade your dependency to 1.56 or later.
Is bcprov-jdk15 affected?
Yes, org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15 is affected in releases prior to 1.56. Upgrade your dependency to 1.56 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-1000342?
CVE-2016-1000342 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2016-1000342?
CVE-2016-1000342 is classified under CWE-347: Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature (The product does not verify, or incorrectly verifies, the cryptographic signature for data.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2016-1000342?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.bouncycastle'. 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 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-qcj7-g2j5-g7r3",
  "modified" : "2025-09-02T20:27:34Z",
  "published" : "2018-10-17T16:24:12Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2016-1000342" ],
  "summary" : "In Bouncy Castle JCE Provider ECDSA does not fully validate ASN.1 encoding of signature on verification",
  "details" : "In the Bouncy Castle JCE Provider version 1.55 and earlier ECDSA does not fully validate ASN.1 encoding of signature on verification. It is possible to inject extra elements in the sequence making up the signature and still have it validate, which in some cases may allow the introduction of 'invisible' data into a signed structure.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.56"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.56"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15on"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.56"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-1000342"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/bcgit/bc-java/commit/843c2e60f67d71faf81d236f448ebbe56c62c647#diff-25c3c78db788365f36839b3f2d3016b9"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2669"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2927"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/bcgit/bc-java"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/07/msg00009.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20181127-0004"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://usn.ubuntu.com/3727-1"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2020.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-347" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T21:51:36Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2018-06-04T13:29:00Z"
  }
}