CVE-2026-63578: Unbounded PBE iteration count when decrypting PKCS#8 private keys

Severity: high (CVSS 7.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-10-02 · updated 2026-10-28
Weakness: CWE-770

Description

Allocation of resources without limits in password-based private-key decryption (PbeUtilities.GenerateCipherParameters) in Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. bc-csharp before 2.7.0 allows an attacker who can supply an encrypted private key, such as a PKCS#8 EncryptedPrivateKeyInfo or "ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY" PEM file, to cause a denial of service through CPU exhaustion via an iteration count close to 2^31, because the count is taken from the unauthenticated algorithm parameters without an upper bound and the key derivation runs before the password or the data can be checked. PKCS#5 PBES1 and PBES2 (PBKDF2), the PKCS#12 PBE algorithms and CMS password recipients (CmsPbeKey) are affected. Loading PKCS#12 files with Pkcs12Store is covered by CVE-2026-63572, and a zero or negative count with the PKCS#12 algorithms by CVE-2026-63575.

Affected products

Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. bc-csharp: before 2.7.0 — fixed in 2.7.0
Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. bc-csharp: before 2.7.0 — fixed in 2.7.0

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. bc-csharp 2.7.0; Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. bc-csharp 2.7.0. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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