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CVE Record

CVE-2026-3505: Unbounded PGP AEAD chunk size leads to pre-auth resource exhaustion.

Allocation of resources without limits or throttling, Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. BC-JAVA bcpg on all (pg modules). This vulnerability is associated with program files AEADEncDataPacket.Java, BcAEADUtil.Java, JceAEADUtil.Java, OperatorHelper.Java. This issue affects BC-JAVA: from 1.74 before 1.80.2, from 1.81 before 1.81.1, from 1.82 before 1.84.

HighCVSS 8.7Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

BC-JAVA bcpg can allocate excessive memory while handling malformed PGP AEAD encrypted data before authentication completes. A remote, unauthenticated sender may be able to exhaust service resources. The evidence supports availability impact, not data theft or code execution.

Executive priority

Treat as a high-priority availability risk for systems that process external PGP content. Prioritize internet-facing and automated ingestion services first, then internal services with untrusted file or message flows.

Technical view

CVE-2026-3505 is CWE-400/CWE-770 resource exhaustion in BC-JAVA pg modules. Unbounded PGP AEAD chunk sizes affect AEADEncDataPacket, BcAEADUtil, JceAEADUtil, and OperatorHelper. Affected ranges are 1.74 before 1.80.2, 1.81 before 1.81.1, and 1.82 before 1.84.

Likely exposure

Java applications using Bouncy Castle bcpg to process untrusted OpenPGP AEAD data are the likely exposure. Exposure is higher for internet-facing mail, file-transfer, encryption, or gateway services accepting attacker-controlled PGP content.

Exploitation context

The CVSS 4.0 vector indicates network access, low complexity, no privileges, and no user interaction. The source bundle does not show KEV listing or active exploitation evidence, so active exploitation should not be claimed.

Researcher notes

The available evidence names affected files and fixed version ranges but does not provide deeper root-cause detail in the prompt. Focus validation on dependency reachability and whether attacker-controlled AEAD packets reach bcpg parsing paths.

Mitigation direction

  • Upgrade BC-JAVA bcpg to 1.80.2, 1.81.1, or 1.84 or later as applicable.
  • Apply relevant Red Hat errata where Bouncy Castle is supplied by Red Hat packages.
  • Inventory transitive dependencies that include bcpg or BC-JAVA pg modules.
  • Check vendor guidance for deployment-specific mitigations if immediate upgrade is not possible.

Validation and detection

  • Identify all deployed BC-JAVA and bcpg versions in application dependency manifests and runtime images.
  • Confirm no affected ranges remain: 1.74-1.80.1, 1.81.0, or 1.82-1.83.x.
  • Review services that parse untrusted PGP AEAD messages, files, or mail attachments.
  • Verify patched packages against vendor advisory, patch commit, or Red Hat errata records.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
8

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.

cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-400: Exact CWE lookup

Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-770: Exact CWE lookup

Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2026-3505 mapping review

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

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
High
CVSS
8.7 (4.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

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.

2CVSS vectors
5Timeline events
2ADP providers
11Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: yesTechnical Impact: partial

CVSS vector scores

2 official scores

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
8.7CVSS 4.0HighCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N——bcorg
7.5CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H3.93.6redhat-SADP

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 4.0 score

8.7High
CVSS 4.0 vector shape for CVE-2026-3505Attack VectorAttack ComplexityAttack RequirementsPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionVS ConfidentialityVS IntegrityVS AvailabilitySS ConfidentialitySS IntegritySS Availability

Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Attack Requirements
NonePresent
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NonePassiveActive
VS Confidentiality
HighLowNone
VS Integrity
HighLowNone
VS Availability
HighLowNone
SS Confidentiality
HighLowNone
SS Integrity
HighLowNone
SS Availability
HighLowNone

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. ADP timelineredhat-SADP

    Made public.

  3. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  4. ADP timelineredhat-SADP

    Reported to Red Hat.

  5. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
other:ssvc
redhat-SADPbouncycastle: BC-JAVA: unbounded PGP AEAD chunk size leads to pre-auth resource exhaustion
other:Red Hat severity ratingcvssV3_1
  • 2026-04-15T10:01:17.415Z: Reported to Red Hat.
  • 2026-04-15T09:06:37.939Z: Made public.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc.BC-JAVAbcpg, 1.74, 1.81, 1.82unaffected
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-400CWE-770

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

CWE-400 · source CWE mapping

Uncontrolled Resource Consumption

Uncontrolled Resource Consumption represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.

Open CWE intelligenceSame-CWE CVEs
CWE-770 · source CWE mapping

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.

Open CWE intelligenceSame-CWE CVEs