CVE-2026-16001

IesEngine stream-mode MAC forgery via length-dependent KDF split

HIGH
7.5
CVSS Score
Published: October 2, 2026 at 06:55 AM UTC
Updated: October 27, 2026 at 04:31 PM UTC
2 products affected across 2 vendorsBc CsharpBouncy Castle for C# (bc-csharp)

Using bc-csharp by Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc.?

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Severity
HIGH7.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

Exposure of the message authentication key through the encryption keystream in the stream mode of IesEngine (an IesEngine constructed without a block cipher) in Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. bc-csharp before 2.7.0 allows a remote attacker who has observed one encrypted message with known plaintext to forge shorter messages of their choosing that the recipient accepts as authentic, via a crafted ciphertext and MAC tag, because the MAC key was taken from the key derivation output directly after a keystream as long as the message, while the derivation input depends only on the static key pair and fixed parameters. The keystream revealed by that one message therefore contains the MAC key for every sufficiently shorter message.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 2.7.0
Affected range stops below 2.7.0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
CWE-354

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