Skip to main content

Libgcrypt EUVDEUVD-2026-25192

| CVE-2026-41989 MEDIUM
Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787)
2026-04-23 mitre GHSA-wrv8-79m2-qg24
6.7
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: mitre
View

Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Deliver crafted ECDH ciphertext
  2. Delivery
    Call gcry_pk_decrypt
  3. Exploit
    Trigger out-of-bounds write
  4. Execution
    Corrupt heap metadata
  5. Impact
    Achieve denial of service or code execution

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Bounds checking, write limits
MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Privilege Escalation

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

The vulnerability requires the attacker to supply a crafted ECDH ciphertext to code that calls gcry_pk_decrypt. No authentication is required (PR:N), and no user interaction is needed (UI:N), but exploitation is constrained by AC:H (high complexity): the attacker must construct a ciphertext that triggers the specific out-of-bounds write condition, which depends on internal buffer layout, heap state, and specific ECDH parameters. Exploitation is limited to local or local-network contexts where the attacker can feed the malicious ciphertext to the vulnerable process - remote exploitation requires the process to accept untrusted ECDH input from a network source. The vulnerability does NOT affect hardened deployments that validate ECDH ciphertext signatures, reject ciphertexts from untrusted parties, or run ECDH decryption in sandboxed/isolated contexts.

Impact

The CVSS vector (AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U) indicates local attack vector with high complexity, limiting real-world exploitability compared to network-based attacks. The impact severity (I:H/A:H) confirms high integrity and availability damage if exploitation succeeds. The AC:H (high complexity) rating suggests the attacker must satisfy non-trivial constraints - likely requiring specific heap layout conditions, particular ECDH parameters, or knowledge of the decryption function's internal buffering. The absence of both public exploit code and CISA KEV listing signals that while the vulnerability is real, it has not yet matured into widespread weaponization. Real-world risk depends heavily on deployment context: applications that accept untrusted ECDH ciphertexts (e.g., messaging protocols, key-exchange servers) face meaningful risk; static key scenarios or applications validating ciphertext source face lower risk. The CVSS score of 6.7 reflects moderate severity - not critical, but warranting timely patching given the memory-corruption class and potential for chained exploits.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker crafts a malformed ECDH ciphertext and provides it to an application (e.g., a TLS implementation, messaging client, or key-agreement service) that calls gcry_pk_decrypt. Upon decryption, the function writes beyond the heap buffer, corrupting adjacent data structures. Depending on heap layout and attacker knowledge, this corruption causes a crash (denial of service) or, in a more sophisticated scenario, overwrites function pointers or metadata to achieve arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the vulnerable application.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.0% exploitation probability (EPSS)

Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.

Alert me

AnalysisAIv1 – Apr 23, 2026

Heap-based buffer overflow in Libgcrypt before 1.12.2 allows local attackers to trigger denial of service and corrupt memory via crafted ECDH ciphertext passed to gcry_pk_decrypt, affecting cryptographic operations in dependent applications including GnuPG. No public exploit code or active exploitation has been identified at time of analysis; vendor has released patched versions 1.10.4, 1.11.3, and 1.12.2 to resolve the vulnerability.

RemediationAI

Immediate remediation: upgrade Libgcrypt to version 1.10.4, 1.11.3, or 1.12.2 or later, depending on your current branch. Users of GnuPG and other dependent projects should update those packages to versions that include the patched Libgcrypt. For systems unable to patch immediately, disable ECDH key exchange if alternative key-agreement mechanisms are available, though this may impact interoperability. Apply strict input validation at the application layer: reject ECDH ciphertexts from untrusted sources or validate ciphertext format before passing to gcry_pk_decrypt. Monitor heap corruption indicators (crashes, segfaults, memory errors) in dependent applications as a sign of exploitation attempts. Patch availability confirmed via https://lists.gnupg.org/pipermail/gnupg-announce/2026q2/000503.html.

Affected VersionsENISA

Libgcrypt 1.11.0 <1.11.3
Libgcrypt 1.12.0 <1.12.2
Libgcrypt 1.8.8 <1.10.4

Affected Packages

euvd libgcrypt fix: 1.10.4, 1.11.3, 1.12.2

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

Libgcrypt is the cryptographic library underlying GnuPG and other security-critical applications. The vulnerability resides in the elliptic-curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) decryption handler (gcry_pk_decrypt function), which fails to properly validate the bounds of ciphertext input before copying decrypted data into a heap-allocated buffer. This is a classic write-what-where condition classified as CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write). The flaw allows an attacker to craft malformed ECDH ciphertext that, when decrypted, writes beyond the intended buffer boundary, corrupting adjacent heap structures and potentially achieving code execution or controlled denial of service.

Know when Libgcrypt gets its next vulnerability

  • Watch products and get an email when something new is published
  • Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

No credit card · 7-day full trial

Severity by source

Vendor (mitre) PRIMARY 6.7 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
SUSE MEDIUM
Red Hat 7.5 MEDIUM

Primary rating from Vendor (mitre).

CVSS VectorVendor: mitre

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

3
Patch released
Apr 27, 2026 - 18:33 nvd
Patch available
Patch available
Apr 23, 2026 - 06:16 EUVD
CVE Published
Apr 23, 2026 - 04:30 nvd
MEDIUM 6.7

DescriptionCVE.org

Libgcrypt before 1.12.2 sometimes allows a heap-based buffer overflow and denial of service via crafted ECDH ciphertext to gcry_pk_decrypt.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.0%
Top 98% exploitable
Threat Intel
2
1 source
Data Quality
8 sources
Confidence: High
EUVD NVD CVE.org EPSS Vulnrichment CISA Vendor VulDB

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.0%
Patch available Yes
Active threat Yes
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

44
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +34
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: +10
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

Memory corruption occurs when a program writes data beyond the boundaries of allocated memory regions or accesses memory in unintended ways, violating the integrity of the process's address space.

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

CVE-2018-6829 HIGH POC
7.5 Feb 07

cipher/elgamal.c in Libgcrypt through 1.8.2, when used to encrypt messages directly, improperly encodes plaintexts, whic

CVE-2021-40528 MEDIUM POC
5.9 Sep 06

The ElGamal implementation in Libgcrypt before 1.9.4 allows plaintext recovery because, during interaction between two c

CVE-2018-0495 MEDIUM POC
4.7 Jun 13

Libgcrypt before 1.7.10 and 1.8.x before 1.8.3 allows a memory-cache side-channel attack on ECDSA signatures that can be

CVE-2021-3345 HIGH
7.8 Jan 29

_gcry_md_block_write in cipher/hash-common.c in Libgcrypt version 1.9.0 has a heap-based buffer overflow when the digest

CVE-2021-33560 HIGH
7.5 Jun 08

Libgcrypt before 1.8.8 and 1.9.x before 1.9.3 mishandles ElGamal encryption because it lacks exponent blinding to addres

CVE-2017-0379 HIGH
7.5 Aug 29

Libgcrypt before 1.8.1 does not properly consider Curve25519 side-channel attacks, which makes it easier for attackers t

CVE-2019-12904 MEDIUM
5.9 Jun 20

In Libgcrypt 1.8.4, the C implementation of AES is vulnerable to a flush-and-reload side-channel attack because physical

CVE-2017-9526 MEDIUM
5.9 Jun 11

In Libgcrypt before 1.7.7, an attacker who learns the EdDSA session key (from side-channel observation during the signin

CVE-2016-6313 MEDIUM
5.3 Dec 13

The mixing functions in the random number generator in Libgcrypt before 1.5.6, 1.6.x before 1.6.6, and 1.7.x before 1.7.

CVE-2026-41990 MEDIUM
4.0 Apr 23

Libgcrypt before version 1.12.2 contains a bounds-check vulnerability in Dilithium signing operations where writes to a

CVE-2014-5270 LOW
2.1 Oct 10

Libgcrypt before 1.5.4, as used in GnuPG and other products, does not properly perform ciphertext normalization and ciph

CVE-2015-7511 LOW
2.0 Apr 19

Libgcrypt before 1.6.5 does not properly perform elliptic-point curve multiplication during decryption, which makes it e

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Medium
Product Status
SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-SAP-CCloud Fixed
SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS Fixed
SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-Aliyun Fixed
SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-Azure Fixed
SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-EC2 Fixed

Threat IntelligenceMISP

CISA Advisories
Sources: CISA (public domain)

This site uses cookies essential for authentication and security. No tracking or analytics cookies are used. Privacy Policy