In MbedTLS 3.3.0 before 3.6.4, mbedtls_lms_verify may accept invalid signatures if hash computation fails and internal errors go unchecked, enabling LMS (Leighton-Micali Signature) forgery in a fault scenario
Published Jul 4, 2025
4.9
MEDIUMCVSS 3.1
EPSS 0.15%
Description
In MbedTLS 3.3.0 before 3.6.4, mbedtls_lms_verify may accept invalid signatures if hash computation fails and internal errors go unchecked, enabling LMS (Leighton-Micali Signature) forgery in a fault scenario. Specifically, unchecked return values in mbedtls_lms_verify allow an attacker (who can induce a hardware hash accelerator fault) to bypass LMS signature verification by reusing stale stack data, resulting in acceptance of an invalid signature. In mbedtls_lms_verify, the return values of the internal Merkle tree functions create_merkle_leaf_value and create_merkle_internal_value are not checked. These functions return an integer that indicates whether the call succeeded or not. If a failure occurs, the output buffer (Tc_candidate_root_node) may remain uninitialized, and the result of the signature verification is unpredictable. When the software implementation of SHA-256 is used, these functions will not fail. However, with hardware-accelerated hashing, an attacker could use fault injection against the accelerator to bypass verification.
Affected products
-
- Version 3.3.0StatusaffectedConstraints<3.6.4
- Version
- ≥ 3.3.0 · < 3.6.4
No data.
No Red Hat product state for this CVE.
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
No remediation recorded yet.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N
No CVSS v3.0 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v2.0 score for this CVE.
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
CISA SSVC (Vulnrichment)
Stakeholder-Specific Vulnerability Categorization from CISA ADP.
Exploitation
NoneAutomatable
NoTechnical Impact
PartialDecision
n/aAssessed Jul 8, 2025 · SSVC 2.0.3
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 4, 2026.
Score over time
2025-2026- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Table of values (3 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed. Showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 4, 2026 | 0.15% (0.00147) | 3.38th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 0.13% (0.00129) | 2.87th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jul 5, 2025 | 0.01% (0.00014) | 1.52th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
References (1)
- https://github.com/Mbed-TLS/mbedtls-docs/blob/main/security-advisories/mbedtls-security-advisory-2025-06-3.md Third Party Advisory
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| https://github.com/Mbed-TLS/mbedtls-docs/blob/main/security-advisories/mbedtls-security-advisory-2025-06-3.md | Third Party Advisory |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.