Signing nonce disclosure via variable-time scalar padding
Published Sep 29, 2026 · Updated Sep 29, 2026
Timing side-channel in OpenSSL generic EC signing allows attackers to infer secret nonces from repeated ECDSA or SM2 signing times. Generic scalar multiplication pads the nonce-derived secret scalar with non-constant-time BIGNUM operations, making signing time depend on its value. Exposure requires an application that signs with a generic prime curve and enough timing measurements; accumulated nonce information can enable private-key recovery.
Summary
What happened
Timing side-channel in OpenSSL generic EC signing allows attackers to infer secret nonces from repeated ECDSA or SM2 signing times. Generic scalar multiplication pads the nonce-derived secret scalar with non-constant-time BIGNUM operations, making signing time depend on its value. Exposure requires an application that signs with a generic prime curve and enough timing measurements; accumulated nonce information can enable private-key recovery.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-54872
- Published
- Sep 29, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 29, 2026
- Vendor
- OpenSSL Project
- Product
- OpenSSL
- Classifications
- CWE-208
- Attack vector
- Unavailable
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 29, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 29, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=1.0.2 <1.0.2zs
- Affected versionversion=1.1.1 <1.1.1zj
- Affected versionversion=3.0.0 <3.0.23
- Affected versionversion=3.4.0 <3.4.8
- Affected versionversion=3.5.0 <3.5.9
- Affected versionversion=3.6.0 <3.6.5
- Affected versionversion=4.0.0 <4.0.3
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
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.
Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Get started to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Get started