CVE-2017-12972 — nimbus-jose-jwt
HIGHCVE-2017-12972 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-345 vulnerability in com.nimbusds:nimbus-jose-jwt. A fix is available for com.nimbusds:nimbus-jose-jwt — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Nimbus JOSE+JWT missing overflow check
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2017-12972 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,166 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
com.nimbusds:nimbus-jose-jwtReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
In Nimbus JOSE+JWT before 4.39, there is no integer-overflow check when converting length values from bytes to bits, which allows attackers to conduct HMAC bypass attacks by shifting Additional Authenticated Data (AAD) and ciphertext so that different plaintext is obtained for the same HMAC.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | com.nimbusds:nimbus-jose-jwt | all versions | 4.39com.nimbusds:nimbus-jose-jwt:4.39 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for com.nimbusds:nimbus-jose-jwt, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update com.nimbusds:nimbus-jose-jwt to 4.39 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2017-12972 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2017-12972 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2017-12972. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2017-12972 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2017-12972 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.