Uninitialized function pointer call in liboqs NTRU encapsulation
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · Low
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
liboqs before 0.16.0 can dereference an uninitialized function pointer in OQS_KEM_encaps_derand (CWE-824) for six NTRU KEMs, such as NTRU-HPS-2048-509 and NTRU-HRSS-1373. The NTRU constructors omit the encaps_derand member and OQS_KEM objects are not zero initialized, so only applications that instantiate these KEMs and call the function are affected. The supported impact is a denial of service that crashes the calling process.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
Description from the CNA
liboqs is a C-language cryptographic library that provides implementations of post-quantum cryptography algorithms. Prior to 0.16.0, OQS_KEM_encaps_derand can dereference an uninitialized encaps_derand function pointer when called on NTRU-HPS-2048-509, NTRU-HPS-2048-677, NTRU-HPS-4096-821, NTRU-HPS-4096-1229, NTRU-HRSS-701, or NTRU-HRSS-1373. The affected NTRU constructors omit the OQS_KEM.encaps_derand member because those schemes do not support derandomized encapsulation, OQS_KEM objects are allocated without zero initialization, and the wrapper in src/kem/kem.c checks only that the OQS_KEM pointer is non-null before calling through the residual heap value. An application is affected only if it instantiates one of those six NTRU KEMs and invokes OQS_KEM_encaps_derand on it. The supported impact is a calling-process crash and denial of service. This issue is fixed in version 0.16.0.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| open-quantum-safe | liboqs | before 0.16.0 | 0.16.0 | Patch available | CNA |
- liboqs Vendoropen-quantum-safe Affected before 0.16.0 Fixed in 0.16.0 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:openquantumsafe:liboqs:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | — | — | open-quantum-safe |
- cpe:2.3:a:openquantumsafe:liboqs:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·open-quantum-safe
Remediation
Upgrade liboqs to version 0.16.0, which fixes the issue.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
- Fix · CNA liboqs (open-quantum-safe) Fixed in 0.16.0
Timeline
- 2026-11-06 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-47738
References
More open-quantum-safe vulnerabilities
- TI-2024-20867 An issue in Open Quantum Safe liboqs v.10.0 allows a remote attacker to escalate… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2024-24817 Buffer overflow in deserialization in oqs-provider CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.2
- TI-2024-36253 liboqs has a correctness error in HQC decapsulation CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2024-24191 Control-flow timing leak in Kyber reference implementation when compiled with Clang 15-18 for -Os, -O1 and other options CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-34064 liboqs: Heap-buffer-overflow in XMSS verification path via OID-controlled parameter mismatch (xmss_commons.c:194) CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.3
- TI-2026-32448 liboqs: XMSS Buffer Overread Bug CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.3
Sources
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences