Signature bypass via zero-signer CMS acceptance
Published Aug 3, 2026 · Updated Aug 3, 2026
Improper CMS signature verification in Bouncy Castle Java editions allows remote attackers to pass unsigned content as authentic. CMSSignedData.verifySignatures iterates an empty signer collection and returns true because neither its ASN.1 input layer nor SignerInformationStore rejects the empty set. Exploitation requires an application to accept attacker-supplied CMS/PKCS#7 data and trust that result without separately requiring an expected signer; affected releases include Java before 1.85, Java LTS 2.73.0 through 2.73.11, and BC-FJA 1.0.0 through 1.0.11, 2.0.0 through 2.0.11, and 2.1.0 through 2.1.11.
Summary
What happened
Improper CMS signature verification in Bouncy Castle Java editions allows remote attackers to pass unsigned content as authentic. CMSSignedData.verifySignatures iterates an empty signer collection and returns true because neither its ASN.1 input layer nor SignerInformationStore rejects the empty set. Exploitation requires an application to accept attacker-supplied CMS/PKCS#7 data and trust that result without separately requiring an expected signer; affected releases include Java before 1.85, Java LTS 2.73.0 through 2.73.11, and BC-FJA 1.0.0 through 1.0.11, 2.0.0 through 2.0.11, and 2.1.0 through 2.1.11.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-59639
- Published
- Aug 3, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 3, 2026
- Vendor
- Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc.
- Product
- Bouncy Castle Java
- Classifications
- CWE-347, CAPEC-475, T1553
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 3, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- 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.
- Affected versionversion=0 <1.85
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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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