LiveActive security incident?Get immediate response
CVE Record

CVE-2018-12436: wolfcrypt/src/ecc.c in wolfSSL before 3.15.1.patch allows a memory-cache side-channel attack on ECDSA signa...

wolfcrypt/src/ecc.c in wolfSSL before 3.15.1.patch allows a memory-cache side-channel attack on ECDSA signatures, aka the Return Of the Hidden Number Problem or ROHNP. To discover an ECDSA key, the attacker needs access to either the local machine or a different virtual machine on the same physical host.

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
Discuss exposureBack to CVEs
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2018-12436 is a cryptographic side-channel issue in wolfSSL's wolfCrypt ECDSA signing code before 3.15.1.patch. An attacker with local access or co-residency on the same physical host could infer information from CPU cache behavior and potentially recover an ECDSA private key.

Executive priority

Treat this as targeted cryptographic-risk work, not broad internet emergency response. Prioritize environments where affected wolfSSL performs ECDSA signing on shared or virtualized infrastructure, because successful exploitation could undermine key confidentiality.

Technical view

The issue is associated with ROHNP, a memory-cache side-channel attack against ECDSA signatures in wolfcrypt/src/ecc.c. The public record names wolfSSL before 3.15.1.patch and a wolfSSL commit reference. Structured affected-product and CVSS data are incomplete in the supplied sources.

Likely exposure

Most exposure is in systems using affected wolfSSL/wolfCrypt versions for ECDSA signing, especially shared-hosting, virtualized, or multi-tenant environments. The source bundle does not provide a complete affected product matrix or CPE list.

Exploitation context

The CVE description requires attacker access to the local machine or a different virtual machine on the same physical host. The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation in the wild.

Researcher notes

The supplied evidence supports side-channel key-recovery risk with constrained attacker placement. It does not provide CVSS, CWE, complete affected CPEs, or active exploitation evidence. Avoid assuming impact on products merely because they use wolfSSL without version and code-path confirmation.

Mitigation direction

  • Identify wolfSSL/wolfCrypt deployments and confirm version lineage.
  • Update affected wolfSSL components to 3.15.1.patch or later if applicable.
  • Review wolfSSL guidance and the referenced commit for vendor-specific remediation details.
  • Prioritize shared-host and multi-tenant systems using ECDSA signing keys.
  • Rotate exposed ECDSA keys if compromise is suspected.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory applications and libraries that embed wolfSSL or wolfCrypt.
  • Confirm whether ECDSA signing code paths are used in production.
  • Check deployed versions against wolfSSL before 3.15.1.patch.
  • Review virtualization placement for co-residency risk around sensitive signing workloads.
  • Verify remediation against vendor release notes or the referenced patch.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
5

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2018-12436 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

0CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
4Source links

CVSS and timeline data

No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
n/an/an/aListed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.