CVE-2024-42461Public exploitNetwork attack vector

ECDSA signature malleability via permissive BER parsing

Published Aug 2, 2024 · Updated Nov 3, 2025

Improper ECDSA signature verification in Elliptic 5.2.1 through 6.5.6 allows attackers to alter valid encodings via BER input. The getLength function in lib/elliptic/ec/signature.js accepts leading zero octets in DER sequence lengths, permitting noncanonical BER forms. Applications must pass attacker-controlled ECDSA signatures to verification; accepted alternate encodings undermine signature uniqueness without forging a signature for new data.

CVSS severity5.3
Medium
EPSS probability0.62%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper ECDSA signature verification in Elliptic 5.2.1 through 6.5.6 allows attackers to alter valid encodings via BER input. The getLength function in lib/elliptic/ec/signature.js accepts leading zero octets in DER sequence lengths, permitting noncanonical BER forms. Applications must pass attacker-controlled ECDSA signatures to verification; accepted alternate encodings undermine signature uniqueness without forging a signature for new data.

The record

CVE
CVE-2024-42461
Published
Aug 2, 2024
Updated
Nov 3, 2025
Vendor
Elliptic Project
Product
Elliptic
Classifications
CWE-347
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 2, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Nov 3, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=6.5.6

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Elliptic Project · Ellipticversion=6.5.6

Published CVSS scores

2.7GitHubCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U
5.3CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-347Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature

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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