CVE-2026-43336

lib/crypto: chacha: Zeroize permuted_state before it leaves scope

High · published May 8, 2026

CVSS v3.1
7.5
EPSS
0%
Percentile
35.7
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

lib/crypto: chacha: Zeroize permuted_state before it leaves scope

Since the ChaCha permutation is invertible, the local variable

'permuted_state' is sufficient to compute the original 'state', and thus

the key, even after the permutation has been done.

While the kernel is quite inconsistent about zeroizing secrets on the

stack (and some prominent userspace crypto libraries don't bother at all

since it's not guaranteed to work anyway), the kernel does try to do it

as a best practice, especially in cases involving the RNG.

Thus, explicitly zeroize 'permuted_state' before it goes out of scope.

The record
Technical detail
CVSS v3.1
7.5 · HIGH
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.00425 · 35.7th percentile
Published
2026-05-08T13:31Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 08 MAY 13:31Z
    lib/crypto: chacha: Zeroize permuted_state before it leaves scope
    cvelistv5