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MEDIUM severity

CVE-2022-45146 — bc-fips

MEDIUM

CVE-2022-45146 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.5) Use After Free vulnerability in org.bouncycastle:bc-fips. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for org.bouncycastle:bc-fips — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Garbage collection issue in BC-FJA in Java 13 and later

Published
Updated
Affected
1 pkg
Patched
1 / 1
Exploits
1 known
Exploitation data as of Oct 31, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
0.4%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
Lower Risk+0.02%
Lower risk than most CVEs39th percentile — riskier than 39% of all scored CVEsHighest risk
0.00%0.32%0.63%0.95%0.1%0.4%May 26Aug 26Oct 26

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected
☕org.bouncycastle:bc-fips

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

An issue was discovered in the FIPS Java API of Bouncy Castle BC-FJA before 1.0.2.4. Changes to the JVM garbage collector in Java 13 and later trigger an issue in the BC-FJA FIPS modules where it is possible for temporary keys used by the module to be zeroed out while still in use by the module, resulting in errors or potential information loss.

NOTE: FIPS compliant users are unaffected because the FIPS certification is only for Java 7, 8, and 11.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
☕Mavenorg.bouncycastle:bc-fipsall versions1.0.2.4org.bouncycastle:bc-fips:1.0.2.4

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations
Application
fips java apibouncycastle
< 1.0.2.4
range
Exploits & PoCs
1

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

An issue was discovered in the FIPS Java API of Bouncy Castle BC-FJA bef…

github.comNVDNov 2022

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, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

  2. Fix

    Update org.bouncycastle:bc-fips to 1.0.2.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-45146 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. Workarounds

    Constrain what reaches the vulnerable code: limit the size and shape of untrusted input, isolate the affected component in a sandboxed or least-privileged process, and enable the platform's memory-safety mitigations (ASLR, stack protector, hardened allocator) so an out-of-bounds access is more likely to fail closed than to be exploitable.

Frequently Asked Questions

An issue was discovered in the FIPS Java API of Bouncy Castle BC-FJA before 1.0.2.4. Changes to the JVM garbage collector in Java 13 and later trigger an issue in the BC-FJA FIPS modules where it is possible for temporary keys used by the module to be zeroed out while still in use by the module, resulting in errors or potential information loss. NOTE: FIPS compliant users are unaffected because the FIPS certification is only for Java 7, 8, and 11.
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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CVE-2022-45146: bc-fips — Fixed in 1.0.2.4