CVE-2026-12185Network attack vector

Process denial of service via unbounded keystore lengths

Published Aug 3, 2026 · Updated Aug 3, 2026

Denial of service in Bouncy Castle Java before 1.85 and Java LTS before 2.73.12 allows attackers to crash a keystore-loading process. BcKeyStoreSpi.engineLoad() parses BKS/UBER entries before checking the trailing HMAC and allocates certificate, key, entry, and salt buffers directly from unbounded readInt() lengths. An attacker must supply or tamper with a keystore file; a 0x7FFFFFFF length triggers an attempted roughly 2 GiB allocation and OutOfMemoryError.

CVSS severity7.1
High
EPSS probability0.23%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Denial of service in Bouncy Castle Java before 1.85 and Java LTS before 2.73.12 allows attackers to crash a keystore-loading process. BcKeyStoreSpi.engineLoad() parses BKS/UBER entries before checking the trailing HMAC and allocates certificate, key, entry, and salt buffers directly from unbounded readInt() lengths. An attacker must supply or tamper with a keystore file; a 0x7FFFFFFF length triggers an attempted roughly 2 GiB allocation and OutOfMemoryError.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-12185
Published
Aug 3, 2026
Updated
Aug 3, 2026
Vendor
Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc.
Product
Bouncy Castle Java
Classifications
CWE-789, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 3, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 3, 2026Record 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=0 <1.85

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. · Bouncy Castle Javaversion=0 <1.85
Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. · Bouncy Castle Java LTSversion=2.73.0 <2.73.12

Published CVSS scores

7.1bcorgCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA: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 exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-789Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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