In Bouncy Castle JCE Provider it is possible to inject extra elements in the sequence making up the signature and still have it validate
In Bouncy Castle JCE Provider version 1.55 and earlier the DSA 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.
Affected software
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| Platform | Package | Vulnerable versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 | >= 1.38, < 1.56 | 1.56 |
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15 | >= 1.38, < 1.56 | 1.56 |
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15on | >= 1.38, < 1.56 | 1.56 |
References
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-1000338
- https://github.com/bcgit/bc-java/commit/b0c3ce99d43d73a096268831d0d120ffc89eac7f#diff-3679f5a9d2b939d0d3ee1601a7774fb0
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2669
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2927
- https://github.com/bcgit/bc-java
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/708d94141126eac03011144a971a6411fcac16d9c248d1d535a39451%40%3Csolr-user.lucene.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/708d94141126eac03011144a971a6411fcac16d9c248d1d535a39451@%3Csolr-user.lucene.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/07/msg00009.html
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20231006-0011
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3727-1
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2020.html
- CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N- Weakness (CWE)
CWE-347- Platform
- Java / Kotlin (Maven)
- Package
org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14, org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15, org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15on- Disclosed
- 17.10.2018
- Updated
- 11.10.2026 12:22
Sources and licenses
OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-4vhj-98r6-424h - CC BY 4.0
Vulnerability history: org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14
All published vulnerabilities of this package (Java / Kotlin (Maven)), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.
- Total entries
- 26
- First → latest
- 10.2018 04.2026
- Without a fix
- 0
- Exploited in attacks
- 0
Severity breakdown
- Critical 1
- High 10
- Medium 14
- Low 1
Disclosures per year
- 2018: 12
- 2019: 1
- 2020: 0
- 2021: 3
- 2022: 0
- 2023: 2
- 2024: 4
- 2025: 1
- 2026: 3
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In Bouncy Castle JCE Provider it is possible to inject extra elements in the sequence making up the signature and still have it validate this entry
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