GHSA-72m5-fvvv-55m6
MEDIUMGHSA-72m5-fvvv-55m6 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.3) CWE-203 vulnerability in org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-72m5-fvvv-55m6 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Observable Differences in Behavior to Error Inputs in Bouncy Castle
Blast Radius
org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14☕org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15☕org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk16☕org.bouncycastle:bc-fips☕org.bouncycastle:bcprov-ext-jdk15on☕org.bouncycastle:bcprov-ext-jdk16☕org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15on☕org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15to18Real-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 Legion of the Bouncy Castle BC before 1.55 and BC-FJA before 1.0.2, attackers can obtain sensitive information about a private exponent because of Observable Differences in Behavior to Error Inputs. This occurs in org.bouncycastle.crypto.encodings.OAEPEncoding. Sending invalid ciphertext that decrypts to a short payload in the OAEP Decoder could result in the throwing of an early exception, potentially leaking some information about the private exponent of the RSA private key performing the encryption.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 | all versions | 1.61 |
| ☕Maven | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15 | all versions | 1.61 |
| ☕Maven | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk16 | all versions | 1.61 |
| ☕Maven | org.bouncycastle:bc-fips | all versions | 1.0.2 |
| ☕Maven | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-ext-jdk15on | all versions | 1.61 |
| ☕Maven | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-ext-jdk16 | all versions | 1.61 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14. 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.
Fix
Update org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 to 1.61 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-72m5-fvvv-55m6 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 pinpoints whether GHSA-72m5-fvvv-55m6 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 GHSA-72m5-fvvv-55m6. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-72m5-fvvv-55m6 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-72m5-fvvv-55m6 across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.