High severity · published Oct 3, 2026
CVE-2026-71883
Native AES packet cipher returns the raw AES key on an alias
8.2
CVSS
0.3%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
In Bouncy Castle for Java LTS before 2.73.13, the one-shot native packet ciphers for AES-CBC, CCM, CFB, CTR, GCM and GCM-SIV released the caller's key, IV and additional authenticated data arrays with JNI's ReleaseByteArrayElements in mode 0, which commits the native copy back into the Java array. Those arrays are read-only to the native code, and on a JVM that returns a copy rather than a pin the copy still holds the input bytes as they were read. The output buffer is taken through a separate critical region and committed first, so where an application passed the same Java array as both an input and the destination - encrypting in place over KeyParameter.getKey(), for example - the later mode-0 release of the key wrote the unchanged key bytes over the ciphertext that had just been produced. The call still returned the correct output length, so an application encrypting in place over its own key array was handed the raw AES key where it expected ciphertext, with nothing in the API to indicate it, and would transmit or store the key in place of the message. The read-only input arrays are now released with JNI_ABORT, freeing the native copy without copying it back, and mode 0 is reserved for arrays the native code wrote. The pure-Java packet ciphers and the streaming native modes are not affected. Bouncy Castle for Java (bcprov) is not affected, as it ships no native implementations.
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.3% · higher than 17% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
BC
BC-LTS-JAVA · Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc.
2.73.4 before 2.73.13 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-71883
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-71883
vendor-advisory
https://github.com/bcgit/bc-java/wiki/CVE%E2%80%902026%E2%80%9071883
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