{"cve":"CVE-2026-44518","nvd":{"published":"2026-05-29T19:16:24.263","modified":"2026-07-21T18:10:00.117","status":"Analyzed","description":"liboqs is a C-language cryptographic library that provides implementations of post-quantum cryptography algorithms. Prior to 0.16.0, an out-of-bounds read has been identified in the XMSS and XMSS^MT stateful signature verification code. When the verification function is called with a signature buffer shorter than the expected signature size for the given parameter set, the implementation does not validate the caller-supplied length and proceeds to read past the end of the buffer. The out-of-bounds bytes are consumed only as input to an internal hash computation and are not returned to the caller, so no oracle exists to leak their contents to an attacker. The primary observable effect is a possible crash (denial of service) of the verifying process if the read crosses into an unmapped memory page. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.16.0.","cvss_v4":null,"cvss_v3":{"version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L","score":5.3},"cwes":["CWE-20","CWE-125"],"references":["https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs/commit/ef70dea7c85e5637f37828d75e5b9bb29dbfe513","https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs/security/advisories/GHSA-wf7v-fhxj-73m2"],"products":["openquantumsafe:liboqs"],"source":"nvd","synced_at":"2026-10-19T22:37:48.043517290+00:00"},"epss":{"cve":"CVE-2026-44518","score":0.00305,"percentile":0.23282,"date":"2026-10-31"},"kev":null,"osv":[],"attribution":["This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.","EPSS scores: FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System, https://www.first.org/epss","Known exploited vulnerabilities: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","Package advisories: OSV (https://osv.dev), from the GitHub Advisory Database, PyPA, Go, RustSec and other ecosystem databases, under CC-BY 4.0 or CC0","CVE records: the CVE Program's CVE List (https://www.cve.org), under its terms of use (https://www.cve.org/Legal/TermsOfUse). CVE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation; this product is not affiliated with the CVE Program."]}