libgcrypt: use ciphertext blinding for Elgamal decryption (new side-channel attack)
Published Nov 29, 2019
4.2
MEDIUMCVSS 3.1
EPSS 0.58%
Description
Libgcrypt before 1.6.3 and GnuPG before 1.4.19 does not implement ciphertext blinding for Elgamal decryption, which allows physically proximate attackers to obtain the server's private key by determining factors using crafted ciphertext and the fluctuations in the electromagnetic field during multiplication.
Affected products
-
- Version before 1.4.19StatusaffectedConstraints-
- Version
-
- Version before 1.6.3StatusaffectedConstraints-
- Version
Configuration 2
- 7.0
- 8.0
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
gnupg
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
gnupg2
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
libgcrypt
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
gnupg2
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
libgcrypt
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
gnupg2
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
libgcrypt
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3
mingw-virt-viewer
Fix deferred
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | gnupg | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | gnupg2 | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | libgcrypt | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | gnupg2 | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | libgcrypt | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | gnupg2 | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | libgcrypt | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3 | mingw-virt-viewer | Fix deferred | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat mitigation
In order to successfully exploit this flaw the attacker needs to following conditions: 1. They need to be very close to the system, in order to record the fluctuations in the electromagnetic waves being emitted by the system. 2. The attacker needs to send specially-crafted cipher text to the system for decryption. 3. The attacker needs to record the electromagnetic fluctuations when these cipher texts are being decrypted. The above conditions can be true only when a laptop is being used for decryption in an unsafe external environment. Typical server setups may not be vulnerable.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
No CVSS v3.0 score for this CVE.
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 1, 2026.
Score over time
2022–2026- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Table of values (10 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 0.58% (0.00576) | 45.49th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 0.58% (0.00576) | 42.75th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 0.04% (0.00040) | 9.20th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.13% (0.00126) | 48.90th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Jul 10, 2024 | 0.10% (0.00099) | 41.49th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.10% (0.00099) | 39.49th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 1.02% (0.01018) | 40.69th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Sep 10, 2022 | 1.02% (0.01018) | 38.88th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 1.02% (0.01018) | 36.86th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 1.02% (0.01018) | 19.50th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
References (9)
- http://www.cs.tau.ac.il/~tromer/radioexp/ x_refsource_MISCThird Party Advisory
- http://www.debian.org/security/2015/dsa-3184 x_refsource_MISCThird Party Advisory
- http://www.debian.org/security/2015/dsa-3185 x_refsource_MISCThird Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2014-3591 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1198145 Issue Tracking
- https://lists.gnupg.org/pipermail/gnupg-announce/2015q1/000363.html x_refsource_MISCPatchRelease NotesVendor Advisory
- https://lists.gnupg.org/pipermail/gnupg-announce/2015q1/000364.html x_refsource_MISCPatchVendor Advisory
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-3591
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-3591
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| http://www.cs.tau.ac.il/~tromer/radioexp/ | x_refsource_MISCThird Party Advisory | |
| http://www.debian.org/security/2015/dsa-3184 | x_refsource_MISCThird Party Advisory | |
| http://www.debian.org/security/2015/dsa-3185 | x_refsource_MISCThird Party Advisory | |
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2014-3591 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1198145 | Issue Tracking | |
| https://lists.gnupg.org/pipermail/gnupg-announce/2015q1/000363.html | x_refsource_MISCPatchRelease NotesVendor Advisory | |
| https://lists.gnupg.org/pipermail/gnupg-announce/2015q1/000364.html | x_refsource_MISCPatchVendor Advisory | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-3591 | ||
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-3591 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.