CVE-2021-3011Public exploit

Private-key extraction via electromagnetic ECDSA leakage

Published Jan 7, 2021 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

An electromagnetic side channel in NXP P5x and A7x microcontrollers with CryptoLib 2.9 and earlier allows attackers to extract ECDSA keys. During signing, local electromagnetic emissions reveal scattered bits of each ephemeral ECDSA nonce; thousands of traces feed a lattice attack that recovers the long-term private key. Exploitation requires physical possession for about 10 hours, expensive equipment, custom software, and technical skill, after which a FIDO U2F token can be cloned.

CVSS severity4.2
Medium
EPSS probability0.20%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

An electromagnetic side channel in NXP P5x and A7x microcontrollers with CryptoLib 2.9 and earlier allows attackers to extract ECDSA keys. During signing, local electromagnetic emissions reveal scattered bits of each ephemeral ECDSA nonce; thousands of traces feed a lattice attack that recovers the long-term private key. Exploitation requires physical possession for about 10 hours, expensive equipment, custom software, and technical skill, after which a FIDO U2F token can be cloned.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-3011
Published
Jan 7, 2021
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-203
Attack vector
physical
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 7, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 3, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorphysical
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

1.9NISTAV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
4.2NISTCVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorphysical
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-203Observable Discrepancy

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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