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CVE-2020-15522

MEDIUM

CVE-2020-15522 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.9) CWE-362 vulnerability in org.bouncycastle:bc-fips. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2020-15522 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.

Timing based private key exposure in Bouncy Castle

Also known asGHSA-6xx3-rg99-gc3p
Published
May 20, 2021
Updated
Jul 8, 2026
Affected
9 pkgs
Patched
9 / 9
Exploits
None indexed

Blast Radius

9 pkgs affected
org.bouncycastle:bc-fipsorg.bouncycastle:bcprov-ext-jdk15onorg.bouncycastle:bcprov-ext-jdk16org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15onorg.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15to18org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk16+1 more

Real-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

Bouncy Castle BC Java before 1.66, BC C# .NET before 1.8.7, BC-FJA before 1.0.1.2, 1.0.2.1, and BC-FNA before 1.0.1.1 have a timing issue within the EC math library that can expose information about the private key when an attacker is able to observe timing information for the generation of multiple deterministic ECDSA signatures.

Affected Packages

9 total 9 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
Mavenorg.bouncycastle:bc-fipsall versions1.0.2.1
Mavenorg.bouncycastle:bcprov-ext-jdk15onall versions1.66
Mavenorg.bouncycastle:bcprov-ext-jdk16all versions1.66
Mavenorg.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14all versions1.66
Mavenorg.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15all versions1.66
Mavenorg.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15onall versions1.66

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency
  1. Detect

    Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.bouncycastle:bc-fips. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.

  2. Fix

    Update org.bouncycastle:bc-fips to 1.0.2.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-15522 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. 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.

  4. How O3 protects you

    O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2020-15522 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Tailored to CVE-2020-15522. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Bouncy Castle BC Java before 1.66, BC C# .NET before 1.8.7, BC-FJA before 1.0.1.2, 1.0.2.1, and BC-FNA before 1.0.1.1 have a timing issue within the EC math library that can expose information about the private key when an attacker is able to observe timing information for the generation of multiple deterministic ECDSA signatures.
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2020-15522 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2020-15522 across Maven, NuGet dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.