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Fencer Intel
high 8.2

CVE-2026-53938 json

OpenIDC/cjose has a heap buffer overflow in AES Key Wrap decryption (A128KW/A192KW/A256KW)

published 5mo ago modified 2mo ago also EUVD-2026-74298 , GHSA-75r7-f5cv-g3wj

Unreviewed: the maintainers' own advisory

Published by the maintainers on their GitHub repository OpenIDC/cjose. GitHub has not reviewed it into the GitHub Advisory Database, so the affected packages and versions are the maintainers' word. Read the full advisory on GitHub.

cvss
8.2
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.2%
EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 14%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

OpenIDC/cjose is a C library implementing the Javascript Object Signing and Encryption (JOSE). Prior to version 0.6.2.5, cjose's JWE decryption path for the AES Key Wrap key-management algorithms (`alg` = `A128KW`, `A192KW`, `A256KW`) does not validate the length of the attacker-supplied `encrypted_key` (JWE Encrypted Key) before unwrapping it into a fixed-size, heap-allocated Content Encryption Key (CEK) buffer. A remote, unauthenticated attacker who can submit a crafted JWE to an application that decrypts it with an AES-KW symmetric key can trigger an out-of-bounds heap write, corrupting the heap. This leads at minimum to a crash (denial of service) and, depending on the heap layout and allocator, may be leverageable for further memory-corruption impact. `cjose_jwe_import()` / `cjose_jwe_decrypt()` are pre-authentication entry points: they parse and process fully attacker-controlled input. Upgrade to cjose 0.6.2.5 to receive a patch. If upgrading is not immediately possible, reject the AES Key Wrap algorithms (`A128KW`/`A192KW`/`A256KW`) for untrusted JWEs at the application layer.

Patch / fix

  • cisco cjose 0.6.2.5
  • cjose Debian 12 0.6.2.1-1+deb12u2
  • cjose Debian 13 0.6.2.3-1+deb13u1
  • cjose Debian 14 0.6.2.7-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-53938

  • cjose RHEL 10.2 0.6.2.2-7.el10_2.1
  • cjose RHEL 8 0.6.1-5.module+el8.10.0+24880+4db9166e
  • mod_auth_openidc RHEL 8 2.4.9.4-9.module+el8.10.0+24880+4db9166e
  • cjose RHEL 8.4 EUS_LONG_LIFE, RHEL 8.4 AUS 0.6.1-3.module+el8.4.0+24972+63eee48e.1
  • mod_auth_openidc RHEL 8.4 EUS_LONG_LIFE, RHEL 8.4 AUS 2.4.9.4-1.module+el8.4.0+24868+593d10ef.3
  • cjose RHEL 8.8 TUS, RHEL 8.8 E4S 0.6.1-3.module+el8.8.0+24970+620d53ef.1
  • mod_auth_openidc RHEL 8.8 TUS, RHEL 8.8 E4S 2.4.9.4-1.module+el8.8.0+24885+7d8e9f68.3
  • cjose RHEL 8.6 EUS_LONG_LIFE, RHEL 8.6 AUS 0.6.1-3.module+el8.6.0+24971+334c209b.1

red hat advisories RHSA-2026:79122RHSA-2026:77369RHSA-2026:77372RHSA-2026:77370RHSA-2026:77371RHSA-2026:73128

  • cjose SLES for SAP applications 16.0, SLES 16.0 0.6.2.3-160000.3.1
  • cjose SLES for SAP 15 SP5, SLES for SAP 15 SP4, SLES 15 SP5-LTSS +5 more 0.6.1-150100.4.9.1
  • cjose SLES for SAP 15 SP6, SLES 15 SP6-LTSS, SLE Module for Server Applications 15 SP7 0.6.1-150600.18.3.1
  • cjose SLES LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5, SLES 12 SP5-LTSS 0.6.1-7.8.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2026:23910-1SUSE-SU-2026:4253-1SUSE-SU-2026:4251-1SUSE-SU-2026:4237-1

  • cjose openSUSE Leap 16.0 0.6.2.3-160000.3.1
  • cjose openSUSE Tumbleweed 0.6.2.8-2.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:21944-1openSUSE-SU-2026:11784-1

  • cjose AlmaLinux 9 0.6.1-17.el9_8.1
  • cjose AlmaLinux 10 0.6.2.2-7.el10_2.1
  • cjose AlmaLinux 8 0.6.1-5.module_el8.10.0+4297+63ae3533
  • mod_auth_openidc AlmaLinux 8 2.4.9.4-9.module_el8.10.0+4297+63ae3533

almalinux advisories ALSA-2026:90812ALSA-2026:79122ALSA-2026:77369

  • cjose Rocky Linux 9 0.6.1-17.el9_8.1
  • cjose Rocky Linux 10 0.6.2.2-7.el10_2.1
  • cjose Rocky Linux 8 0.6.1-5.module+el8.10.0+40373+8a3f15d2
  • mod_auth_openidc Rocky Linux 8 2.4.9.4-9.module+el8.10.0+40373+8a3f15d2

rocky linux advisories RLSA-2026:90812RLSA-2026:79122RLSA-2026:77369

Is CVE-2026-53938 in your stack? Fencer shows which of your repositories are affected as soon as an advisory lands, and opens the fix as a pull request.

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Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2026-53938 updated cvss 8.2

cjose: cjose: Heap buffer overflow in AES Key Wrap decryption leads to denial of service

  • Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder EUS (v.9.6) cjose-devel 0.6.1-17.el9_6.1, cjose-debuginfo 0.6.1-17.el9_6.1, cjose-debugsource 0.6.1-17.el9_6.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:73128
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) cjose 0.6.1-5.module+el8.10.0+24880+4db9166e, mod_auth_openidc 2.4.9.4-9.module+el8.10.0+24880+4db9166e
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:77369
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) cjose 0.6.1-17.el9_8.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:90812
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) cjose 0.6.2.2-7.el10_2.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:79122
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream AUS (v.8.4) cjose 0.6.1-3.module+el8.4.0+24972+63eee48e.1, mod_auth_openidc 2.4.9.4-1.module+el8.4.0+24868+593d10ef.3
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:77372
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream AUS (v.8.6) cjose 0.6.1-3.module+el8.6.0+24971+334c209b.1, mod_auth_openidc 2.4.9.4-1.module+el8.6.0+24867+df0294a5.3
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:77371
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v.8.8) cjose 0.6.1-3.module+el8.8.0+24970+620d53ef.1, mod_auth_openidc 2.4.9.4-1.module+el8.8.0+24885+7d8e9f68.3
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:77370
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v.9.2) cjose 0.6.1-13.el9_2.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:73017
show 9 more
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v.9.4) cjose 0.6.1-16.el9_4.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:73018
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 10.0) cjose 0.6.2.2-7.el10_0.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:73129
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v.9.6) cjose 0.6.1-17.el9_6.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:73128
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS EXTENSION (v.8.4) cjose 0.6.1-3.module+el8.4.0+24972+63eee48e.1, mod_auth_openidc 2.4.9.4-1.module+el8.4.0+24868+593d10ef.3
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:77372
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS EXTENSION (v.8.6) cjose 0.6.1-3.module+el8.6.0+24971+334c209b.1, mod_auth_openidc 2.4.9.4-1.module+el8.6.0+24867+df0294a5.3
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:77371
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream TUS (v.8.8) cjose 0.6.1-3.module+el8.8.0+24970+620d53ef.1, mod_auth_openidc 2.4.9.4-1.module+el8.8.0+24885+7d8e9f68.3
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:77370
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) cjose-devel 0.6.1-17.el9_8.1, cjose-debuginfo 0.6.1-17.el9_8.1, cjose-debugsource 0.6.1-17.el9_8.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:90812
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) cjose-devel 0.6.2.2-7.el10_2.1, cjose-debuginfo 0.6.2.2-7.el10_2.1, cjose-debugsource 0.6.2.2-7.el10_2.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:79122
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder EUS (v. 10.0) cjose-devel 0.6.2.2-7.el10_0.1, cjose-debuginfo 0.6.2.2-7.el10_0.1, cjose-debugsource 0.6.2.2-7.el10_0.1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:73129

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
2mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.24% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 14% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-11).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 8.2 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H

Affected products

  • OpenIDC cjose

Classification

Weakness

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

The maintainers of OpenIDC/cjose published their own advisory on GitHub. Reviewed sources take precedence over it.

CPEs and fixed versions use Anchore's correction of NVD's data: Added CPE configurations because not yet analyzed by NVD.