OpenPGP message truncation not reported, bypassing the SEIPDv1 integrity check
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- Present
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · High · None
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 8 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-345.
Summary
In Bouncy Castle for Java before 1.86, a truncated OpenPGP encrypted message was accepted with no error reported, and on the SEIPD version 1 path with no integrity check performed at all. RFC 9580 sec. 13.7 permits an implementation to release the cleartext of the fully authenticated chunks when streaming but requires it to indicate a clear error as soon as the truncation is detected, and to report suspect integrity when it discovers malleable ciphertext. The truncation was detected and then discarded: when a message is truncated but the length field of the enclosing packet is left unchanged, BCPGInputStream.PartialInputStream raises an EOFException for the missing ciphertext, and BCPGInputStream.nextPacketTag() reports an EOFException as a clean end of message, so the packet stream above it stopped as though no packets remained. On the AEAD path (SEIPD version 2 and the version 5 AEAD packet), when the literal data packet ended on an AEAD chunk boundary and the consumer read in increments smaller than one chunk, the look-ahead for the packet after the literal triggered the truncated chunk read, so BcAEADUtil and JceAEADUtil never reached the trailing message tag of sec. 5.13.2 that authenticates the total plaintext length; the caller received the plaintext of the fully authenticated chunks, every packet following the literal was silently dropped, and no exception was raised, so a signed and encrypted message read back as a well-formed unsigned one. Every byte released on that path remained individually authenticated, making this a missing truncation error rather than a forgery, and it is a residual of CVE-2026-12817, which closed the same outcome for an attacker who corrects the outer packet length. On the SEIPD version 1 path the consequence was more serious: IntegrityProtectedInputStream verifies the modification detection code from close(), and reached close() only by closing itself when a read of it returned -1, which a truncated message never produces, so PGPEncryptedData.verify() never ran and the recipient was handed CFB-decrypted plaintext on which no integrity check of any kind had been performed. Measured on a message truncated into that shape, 136 distinct single-byte modifications of the ciphertext produced accepted, altered plaintext with no exception raised. Reachability is a property of the message rather than of attacker-supplied input: the AEAD shape held for 3 of 131 consecutive payload lengths measured, and the SEIPD version 1 shape for one payload length in sixteen, at a truncation offset that did not move with the payload length. The low-level API is unaffected, a caller that invokes PGPEncryptedData.verify() directly getting the check regardless, as are consumers reading in increments of a whole AEAD chunk or more. The AEAD decryption streams now re-throw such an EOFException as a plain IOException, which nextPacketTag() does not launder; OpenPGPMessageInputStream.close() now closes its layer's integrity-protected stream itself rather than relying on that stream having seen the end of its data; and IntegrityProtectedInputStream.close() was made idempotent, as java.io.Closeable requires, which that depends on, since the stream is genuinely closed twice on the ordinary path and PGPEncryptedData.verify() consumes the digest state behind it and cannot be run a second time. This issue also affects Bouncy Castle for Java LTS before 2.73.13, on the AEAD route only, as that edition does not ship the high-level OpenPGP API the SEIPDv1 route runs through. It also affects Bouncy Castle for Java FIPS (BC-FJA) before bcpg-fips 1.0.14 (1.0.X series), 2.0.14.1 (2.0.X series) and 2.1.14 (2.1.X series), on the AEAD route only, as those editions do not ship the high-level OpenPGP API.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. | BC-JAVA | 1.74 to before 1.86 | 1.86 | Patch available | CNA |
| Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. | BC-LTS-JAVA | 2.73.0 to before 2.73.13 | 2.73.13 | Patch available | CNA |
| Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. | BC-FJA | 1.0.7 to before 1.0.14; 2.0.7 to before 2.0.14.1; 2.1.0 to before 2.1.14 | 1.0.14, 2.0.14.1, 2.1.14 | Patch available | CNA |
- BC-JAVA VendorLegion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. Affected 1.74 to before 1.86 Fixed in 1.86 Patch available CNA
- BC-LTS-JAVA VendorLegion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. Affected 2.73.0 to before 2.73.13 Fixed in 2.73.13 Patch available CNA
- BC-FJA VendorLegion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. Affected 1.0.7 to before 1.0.14; 2.0.7 to before 2.0.14.1; 2.1.0 to before 2.1.14 Fixed in 1.0.14, 2.0.14.1, 2.1.14 Patch available CNA
CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1
Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:bouncycastle:bc-java:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | — | — | Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. |
- cpe:2.3:a:bouncycastle:bc-java:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc.
Remediation
- Fix · CNA BC-JAVA (Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc.) Fixed in 1.86
- Fix · CNA BC-LTS-JAVA (Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc.) Fixed in 2.73.13
- Fix · CNA BC-FJA (Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc.) Fixed in 1.0.14, 2.0.14.1, 2.1.14
Fixed in the same release
Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.
- Release ·
Legion of the Bouncy Castle BC-JAVA 1.86
11 records Highest priority Priority MEDIUM 4 MEDIUM, 7 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2026-67477 MLS external commit can remove an arbitrary group memberPriority MEDIUM 43
- TI-2026-67476 PKIXCertPathReviewer does not apply X.509 name constraints to the target certificatePriority MEDIUM 43
- TI-2026-67475 CMS AuthenticatedData exposes attacker-inserted authAttrs when digestAlgorithm is absentPriority MEDIUM 42
- Release ·
Legion of the Bouncy Castle BC-LTS-JAVA 2.73.13
5 records Highest priority Priority MEDIUM 2 MEDIUM, 3 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2026-67476 PKIXCertPathReviewer does not apply X.509 name constraints to the target certificatePriority MEDIUM 43
- TI-2026-67475 CMS AuthenticatedData exposes attacker-inserted authAttrs when digestAlgorithm is absentPriority MEDIUM 42
- TI-2026-67471 Native AES packet cipher returns the raw AES key on an aliasPriority LOW 35
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| OpenShift Developer Tools and Services | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Fuse 7 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform Expansion Pack | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Single Sign-On 7 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat build of Apache Camel 4 for Quarkus 3 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Timeline
- 2026-10-03 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-85515
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-8hgf-w73g-3x6v
- 2026-10-04 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-10-05 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 CVSS score added · Red Hat
References
More Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. vulnerabilities
- TI-2018-15967 Legion of the Bouncy Castle Legion of the Bouncy Castle Java Cryptography APIs 1.58 up to… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2017-09736 BouncyCastle JCE TLS Bleichenbacher/ROBOT CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-42545 MTI/A0 DH agreement exponentiates unvalidated peer value CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.3
- TI-2026-42533 JSSE hostname verifier CN-fallback enabled by default despite documented opt-in CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.3
- TI-2026-41816 Stapled OCSP response accepted without binding to the checked certificate CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.3
- TI-2026-07701 Name Constraints bypass via trailing dot in rfc822Name and URI CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.3
Sources
- CVE-2026-85515 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-85515 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-8hgf-w73g-3x6v · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-85515 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences