CVE-2026-18036
Published:October 02, 2026
Updated:October 09, 2026
In Bouncy Castle for Java before 1.86, NTRU reduced secret values with the % operator in three helpers whose reference implementations are deliberately division-free, so each reduction was carried out by an integer division whose latency depends on the secret operand. Polynomial.modQ divided by a variable divisor, which a compiler cannot strength-reduce to a multiply the way it can a constant one, so it emitted a division on every call including on the decapsulation path where the dividend derives from the private key; Polynomial.mod3 and NTRUSampling.mod3 divided the secret key polynomials f and g during key generation, the message polynomials r and m during encapsulation, and coefficients recovered during decapsulation. An attacker able to measure that timing can recover information about the NTRU private key. modQ now masks, which is exact because q is always a power of two, and mod3 uses the reference implementation's division-free fold and select; the results are unchanged.
Affected Packages
https://github.com/bcgit/bc-java.git (GITHUB):
Affected version(s) >=r1rv72 <r1rv85v2Fix Suggestion:
Update to version r1rv85v2org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 (JAVA):
Affected version(s) >=1.72 <1.85.2Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 1.85.2org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15to18 (JAVA):
Affected version(s) >=1.72 <1.85.2Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 1.85.2org.bouncycastle:bcprov-debug-jdk18on (JAVA):
Affected version(s) >=1.72 <1.86Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 1.86org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk18on (JAVA):
Affected version(s) >=1.72 <1.85.2Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 1.85.2org.bouncycastle:bcprov-debug-jdk15to18 (JAVA):
Affected version(s) >=1.72 <1.86Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 1.86org.bouncycastle:bcprov-debug-jdk14 (JAVA):
Affected version(s) >=1.72 <1.86Fix Suggestion:
Update to version 1.86Related Resources (8)
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Contact UsCVSS v4
Base Score:
8.2
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
HIGH
Attack Requirements
PRESENT
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Vulnerable System Confidentiality
HIGH
Vulnerable System Integrity
NONE
Vulnerable System Availability
NONE
Subsequent System Confidentiality
NONE
Subsequent System Integrity
NONE
Subsequent System Availability
NONE
CVSS v3
Base Score:
5.9
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
HIGH
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
NONE
Availability
NONE
Weakness Type (CWE)
Observable Timing Discrepancy
EPSS
Base Score:
0.28