CVE-2026-53938

OpenIDC/cjose has a heap buffer overflow in AES Key Wrap decryption (A128KW/A192KW/A256KW)

HIGH
8.2
CVSS Score
Published: September 8, 2026 at 11:25 PM UTC
Updated: September 10, 2026 at 08:08 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorCjose

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Severity
HIGH8.2
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

OpenIDC/cjose is a C library implementing the Javascript Object Signing and Encryption (JOSE). Prior to version 0.6.2.5, cjose's JWE decryption path for the AES Key Wrap key-management algorithms (`alg` = `A128KW`, `A192KW`, `A256KW`) does not validate the length of the attacker-supplied `encrypted_key` (JWE Encrypted Key) before unwrapping it into a fixed-size, heap-allocated Content Encryption Key (CEK) buffer. A remote, unauthenticated attacker who can submit a crafted JWE to an application that decrypts it with an AES-KW symmetric key can trigger an out-of-bounds heap write, corrupting the heap. This leads at minimum to a crash (denial of service) and, depending on the heap layout and allocator, may be leverageable for further memory-corruption impact. `cjose_jwe_import()` / `cjose_jwe_decrypt()` are pre-authentication entry points: they parse and process fully attacker-controlled input. Upgrade to cjose 0.6.2.5 to receive a patch. If upgrading is not immediately possible, reject the AES Key Wrap algorithms (`A128KW`/`A192KW`/`A256KW`) for untrusted JWEs at the application layer.

Affected

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

v < 0.6.2.5
Affected range stops below 0.6.2.5, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitAutomatablePartial impact

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

CVSS

8.2HIGHGitHub_M
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
LOW
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusAWAITING ANALYSIS
CWE
CWE-122CWE-787

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