HQC leaks private key information through secret-indexed GF(2^8) tables and a secret-dependent fixed-weight sampler
In Bouncy Castle for Java before 1.86, HQC leaked secret-derived data through two side channels: its GF(2^8) arithmetic used lookup tables indexed by field elements, making the cache line touched a function of the operand, and its fixed-weight support sampler left its duplicate scan as soon as a collision was found and stored accepted positions at a secret index. Both run on secret inputs during encapsulation and decapsulation, and the sampler re-expands the secret key from its seed on every decapsulation, so an attacker able to observe cache behaviour or decapsulation timing can recover information about the HQC private key. The field arithmetic is now table-free and the sampler branch-free within a batch of candidates, with output and randomness consumption unchanged.
CVE-2026-18040
Primary source · Revision 1
Imported from structured advisory data. Source references identify upstream records or fields; verify affected versions and your deployed configuration.
Security context
Source reference: cve:CVE-2026-18040
BC-JAVA
Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/0/product
- Affected versions
- Not stated in this record
- Fixed versions
- Not stated in this record
- Prerequisites
- Not stated in this record
Structured affected-version data
Original package identities and version rules from this source.
[
{
"repo": "https://github.com/bcgit/bc-java",
"vendor": "Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc.",
"modules": [
"core"
],
"product": "BC-JAVA",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "1.73",
"lessThan": "1.86",
"versionType": "maven"
}
],
"platforms": [
"all"
],
"packageURL": "pkg:maven/org.bouncycastle/bcprov-jdk18on",
"packageName": "bcprov",
"programFiles": [
"GF",
"HQCEngine",
"ReedSolomon",
"FastFourierTransform"
],
"collectionURL": "https://www.bouncycastle.org/download/bouncy-castle-java/",
"defaultStatus": "unaffected"
}
]- Related CVEs
- CVE-2026-18040
Source reference:
/cveMetadata/cveId
Publisher severity
medium
Source reference: /containers/cna/metrics
- Event
- #8767 · Revision 1
- Added to Heist Feed
- Publisher date