High

PyCA Cryptography vulnerable to GCM tag forgery

  • Disclosed: 30.07.2018
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 11:19

A flaw was found in python-cryptography versions between >=1.9.0 and <2.3. The finalize_with_tag API did not enforce a minimum tag length. If a user did not validate the input length prior to passing it to finalize_with_tag an attacker could craft an invalid payload with a shortened tag (e.g. 1 byte) such that they would have a 1 in 256 chance of passing the MAC check. GCM tag forgeries can cause key leakage.

Affected software

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PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
Python (PyPI) cryptography >= 1.9.0, < 2.3 2.3

References

CVSS score 7.5/10
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-20
Platform
Python (PyPI)
Package
cryptography
Disclosed
30.07.2018
Updated
11.10.2026 11:19

Sources and licenses

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - PYSEC-2018-52 - PyPA Advisory Database; CC BY 4.0

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-fcf9-3qw3-gxmj - CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: cryptography

All published vulnerabilities of this package (Python (PyPI)), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.

All (24) in the archive
Total entries
24
First → latest
03.2017 08.2026
Without a fix
0
Exploited in attacks
0

Severity breakdown

  • High 12
  • Medium 7
  • Low 5

Disclosures per year

  1. 2017: 1
  2. 2018: 1
  3. 2019: 0
  4. 2020: 1
  5. 2021: 1
  6. 2022: 1
  7. 2023: 7
  8. 2024: 4
  9. 2025: 1
  10. 2026: 7
Severity:
  1. High · 7.5 ghsa-537c-gmf6-5ccf >= 0.5.0, < 48.0.1 48.0.1
  2. High · 7.5 CVE-2023-38325 >= 40.0.0, < 41.0.2 41.0.2
  3. High · 7.4 CVE-2023-0286 >= 0.8.1, < 39.0.1 39.0.1
  4. PyCA Cryptography vulnerable to GCM tag forgery this entry
    High · 7.5 CVE-2018-10903 >= 1.9.0, < 2.3 2.3
  5. High · 7.5 CVE-2016-9243 < 1.5.3 1.5.3

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