Bouncy Castle affected by timing side-channel for RSA key exchange ("The Marvin Attack")GHSA-v435-xc8x-wvr9
MEDIUMFix: bcgit/bc-csharp@c984b8bGHSA-v435-xc8x-wvr9 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.9) CWE-203 vulnerability in org.bouncycastle:bctls-fips. A fix is available for org.bouncycastle:bctls-fips — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-v435-xc8x-wvr9.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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
org.bouncycastle:bctls-fips☕org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk18on☕org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15on☕org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15to18☕org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14☕org.bouncycastle:bctls-jdk18on☕org.bouncycastle:bctls-jdk14☕org.bouncycastle:bctls-jdk15to18+2 moreReal-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 Bouncy Castle Java TLS API and JSSE Provider before 1.78. Timing-based leakage may occur in RSA based handshakes because of exception processing.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.bouncycastle:bctls-fips | all versions | 1.0.19org.bouncycastle:bctls-fips:1.0.19 |
| ☕Maven | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk18on | all versions | 1.78org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk18on:1.78 |
| ☕Maven | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15on | all versions | 1.78org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15on:1.78 |
| ☕Maven | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15to18 | all versions | 1.78org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15to18:1.78 |
| ☕Maven | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 | all versions | 1.78org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14:1.78 |
| ☕Maven | org.bouncycastle:bctls-jdk18on | all versions | 1.78org.bouncycastle:bctls-jdk18on:1.78 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.bouncycastle:bctls-fips, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.bouncycastle:bctls-fips to 1.0.19 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-v435-xc8x-wvr9 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.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.Source: Red Hat security advisory for GHSA-v435-xc8x-wvr9 (CC BY 4.0)
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Cryostat 3 on RHEL 8 | cryostat-tech-preview/cryostat-db-rhel8:3.0.0-3 | RHSA-2024:4173 |
| Red Hat AMQ Broker 7 | org.bouncycastle-bcprov-jdk18on | RHSA-2024:4271 |
| Red Hat build of Apache Camel 4.4.1 for Spring Boot 3.2 | org.bouncycastle-bcprov-jdk18on | RHSA-2024:4884 |
| Red Hat Build of Apache Camel 4.4 for Quarkus 3.8 | see advisory | RHSA-2024:4505 |
| Red Hat build of Quarkus 3.8.5.redhat | org.bouncycastle/bcprov-jdk18on:1.78.1.redhat-00002 | RHSA-2024:4326 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform | org.bouncycastle/bcprov-jdk18on:1.78.1.redhat-00002 | RHSA-2024:5147 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.4 for RHEL 8 | eap7-bouncycastle-0:1.78.1-1.redhat_00002.1.el8eap | RHSA-2024:5144 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.4 for RHEL 9 | eap7-bouncycastle-0:1.78.1-1.redhat_00002.1.el9eap | RHSA-2024:5145 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-v435-xc8x-wvr9 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, NuGet, including transitive dependencies.