open-quantum-safe liboqs up to 0.16.0 Signature Verification hss_verify_inc.c hss_validate_signature_init denial of service

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, was found in open-quantum-safe liboqs up to 0.16.0. This affects the function hss_validate_signature_init of the file src/sig_stfl/lms/external/hss_verify_inc.c of the component Signature Verification. Executing a manipulation can lead to denial of service. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-104254. The attack may be launched remotely. There is no exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic was found in open-quantum-safe liboqs up to 0.16.0. This vulnerability affects the function hss_validate_signature_init of the file src/sig_stfl/lms/external/hss_verify_inc.c of the component Signature Verification. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a denial of service vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-404. The product does not release or incorrectly releases a resource before it is made available for re-use. As an impact it is known to affect availability. CVE summarizes:

liboqs is a C-language cryptographic library that provides implementations of post-quantum cryptography algorithms. From 0.11.0 through 0.16.0, builds configured with OQS_ENABLE_SIG_STFL_LMS=ON can read beyond a caller-supplied signature buffer when an untrusted truncated LMS or HSS-LMS signature reaches OQS_SIG_STFL_verify or OQS_SIG_STFL_alg_lms_verify. In hss_validate_signature_init() in src/sig_stfl/lms/external/hss_verify_inc.c, consumed-length checks do not ensure that the bottom-level q and C fields remain available, allowing up to 32 bytes to be read past the buffer. In version 0.16.0, is_hss_public_key() also reads at offset 8 after only a four-byte length check, allowing an over-read of up to eight bytes. No valid signature is required, but the public key must be syntactically plausible. The read data is consumed only by an internal hash and is not exposed, so the supported impact is a possible verifier crash and denial of service, not memory disclosure or acceptance of an invalid signature. This issue is scheduled to be fixed in version 0.17.0.

The advisory is available at github.com. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-104254 since 10/01/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is required for a successful exploitation. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. This vulnerability is assigned to T1499 by the MITRE ATT&CK project.

Upgrading to version 0.17.0 eliminates this vulnerability.

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Productinfo

Vendor

• open-quantum-safe

Name

• liboqs

Version

• 0.1
• 0.2
• 0.3
• 0.4
• 0.5
• 0.6
• 0.7
• 0.8
• 0.9
• 0.10
• 0.11
• 0.12
• 0.13
• 0.14
• 0.15
• 0.16.0

Website

• Product: https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs/

CPE 2.3info

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Entryinfo

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