Bouncy Castle Denial of Service (DoS)
Bouncy Castle for Java before 1.73 contains a potential Denial of Service (DoS) issue within the Bouncy Castle org.bouncycastle.openssl.PEMParser class. This class parses OpenSSL PEM encoded streams containing X.509 certificates, PKCS8 encoded keys, and PKCS7 objects. Parsing a file that has crafted ASN.1 data through the PEMParser causes an OutOfMemoryError, which can enable a denial of service attack.
Affected software
Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.
| Platform | Package | Vulnerable versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | org.bouncycastle:bcpkix-jdk18on | < 1.73 | 1.73 |
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-ext-jdk15on | < 1.73 | 1.73 |
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-ext-jdk16 | < 1.73 | 1.73 |
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 | < 1.73 | 1.73 |
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15 | < 1.73 | 1.73 |
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15on | all versions | no fix |
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15to18 | < 1.73 | 1.73 |
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk16 | < 1.73 | 1.73 |
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk18on | < 1.73 | 1.73 |
References
- CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H- Weakness (CWE)
CWE-400- Platform
- Java / Kotlin (Maven)
- Package
org.bouncycastle:bcpkix-jdk18on, org.bouncycastle:bcprov-ext-jdk15on, org.bouncycastle:bcprov-ext-jdk16- Disclosed
- 23.11.2023
- Updated
- 11.10.2026 13:20
Sources and licenses
OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-wjxj-5m7g-mg7q - CC BY 4.0
Vulnerability history: org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15to18
All published vulnerabilities of this package (Java / Kotlin (Maven)), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.
- Total entries
- 15
- First → latest
- 04.2021 08.2026
- Without a fix
- 0
- Exploited in attacks
- 0
Severity breakdown
- Critical 2
- High 3
- Medium 10
Disclosures per year
- 2021: 3
- 2022: 0
- 2023: 2
- 2024: 4
- 2025: 1
- 2026: 5
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Bouncy Castle Denial of Service (DoS) this entry
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