CVE-2026-59776 in FeliCa IC chips
Summary
by MITRE • 07/21/2026
Missing Cryptographic Step (CWE-325) vulnerability exists in certain FeliCa IC chips shipped in or before 2017. If the vulnerability is exploited, information stored in the IC chip may be read or tampered with.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/21/2026
The vulnerability described represents a critical cryptographic weakness classified as CWE-325, which specifically addresses missing cryptographic steps in security implementations. This particular flaw affects FeliCa IC chips manufactured and shipped prior to 2017, indicating a widespread issue within legacy payment and identification systems that have been in deployment for over a decade. The vulnerability stems from insufficient cryptographic implementation during the chip's design phase, where essential security protocols were either omitted or improperly executed, creating exploitable gaps in the authentication and data protection mechanisms.
The technical nature of this weakness lies in the absence of proper cryptographic steps that should have been implemented to ensure secure communication between the FeliCa chip and external readers. These missing cryptographic elements typically include proper key derivation functions, secure random number generation, or adequate encryption protocols that would normally prevent unauthorized access to stored data. When cryptographic steps are omitted from security implementations, attackers can exploit these gaps to perform man-in-the-middle attacks, decrypt sensitive information, or manipulate stored data without detection. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple data theft as it enables both information disclosure and data integrity compromise, making it particularly dangerous for payment systems where financial data is stored.
The operational impact of this vulnerability affects numerous organizations that rely on FeliCa-based systems for secure transactions, access control, and identification purposes. Financial institutions using these chips for contactless payments, transportation networks implementing contactless fare systems, and government agencies utilizing the technology for ID cards or access control all face potential security breaches. The long deployment timeline of these chips means that organizations may have unknowingly operated with compromised security for years, creating extensive exposure windows where sensitive data could have been accessed by malicious actors. This vulnerability particularly affects systems where the chips store personal identification information, transaction records, or financial data, as attackers could potentially extract this information and use it for fraudulent activities or identity theft.
Organizations must implement comprehensive mitigation strategies to address this vulnerability, beginning with immediate inventory assessment to identify all affected FeliCa chips in their infrastructure. The most effective long-term solution involves replacing vulnerable chips with updated versions that properly implement cryptographic protocols, though this process requires careful planning due to the widespread nature of deployment. Temporary mitigations should include enhanced monitoring of chip communications, implementation of additional security layers at the application level, and regular vulnerability assessments of surrounding systems. Organizations should also consider adopting the principle of least privilege for chip access and implementing network segmentation to limit potential damage from exploitation. The remediation process must align with industry standards such as those defined in the NIST SP 800-57 framework for cryptographic key management and should incorporate lessons learned from similar cryptographic weakness incidents documented in the ATT&CK framework under credential access and defense evasion techniques. Regular security audits and penetration testing should be conducted to verify that proper cryptographic implementations are in place and functioning correctly, ensuring that future deployments do not inherit the same vulnerabilities present in the affected legacy systems.