CVE-2024-36405CWE-208CWE-385

Control-flow timing leak in Kyber reference implementation when compiled with Clang 15-18 for -Os, -O1 and other options

Medium · published June 10, 2024

CVSS v3.1
5.9
EPSS
1%
Percentile
43.0
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

liboqs is a C-language cryptographic library that provides implementations of post-quantum cryptography algorithms. A control-flow timing lean has been identified in the reference implementation of the Kyber key encapsulation mechanism when it is compiled with Clang 15-18 for `-Os`, `-O1`, and other compilation options. A proof-of-concept local attack on the reference implementation leaks the entire ML-KEM 512 secret key in ~10 minutes using end-to-end decapsulation timing measurements. The issue has been fixed in version 0.10.1. As a possible workaround, some compiler options may produce vectorized code that does not leak secret information, however relying on these compiler options as a workaround may not be reliable.

The record
Technical detail
CVSS v3.1
5.9 · MEDIUM
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.00515 · 43.0th percentile
Weaknesses
CWE-208 · Observable Timing Discrepancy; CWE-385 · Covert Timing Channel
Published
2024-06-10T12:47Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 10 JUN 12:47Z
    Control-flow timing leak in Kyber reference implementation when compiled with Clang 15-18 for -Os, -O1 and other options
    cvelistv5