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8.7
CVE-2026-13505: Bouncy Castle for Java FIPS: Key Material Not Properly Cleared
CVE-2026-13505 · published 27 days ago
Summary
Some versions of Bouncy Castle for Java FIPS have a bug that can cause the system to run out of memory when handling sensitive key material. This bug was fixed in later versions, but older versions may still be vulnerable. If you're using Bouncy Castle for Java FIPS, make sure to update to the latest version to ensure your system is secure.
What to do
- Update legion of the bouncy castle inc. bc-fja to version 1.0.2.7 or later.
Affected software
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions |
|---|---|---|
| legion of the bouncy castle inc. | bc-fja | < 1.0.2.7 |
Original advisory text
In Bouncy Castle for Java FIPS (BC-FJA) before bc-fips 1.0.2.7 (1.0.X series), 2.0.2 (2.0.X series) and 2.1.3 (2.1.X series), sensitive key material held by the AES and DESede engines, the SP 800-9...
In Bouncy Castle for Java FIPS (BC-FJA) before bc-fips 1.0.2.7 (1.0.X series), 2.0.2 (2.0.X series) and 2.1.3 (2.1.X series), sensitive key material held by the AES and DESede engines, the SP 800-90A DRBGs, SymmetricSecretKey and the PBKD and scrypt parameter classes was zeroised on garbage collection by overriding Object.finalize. Finalization runs at an unspecified time and in an unspecified order and is serviced by a single finalizer thread, so where objects carrying a finalizer are allocated faster than that thread retires them the pending-finalization queue grows without bound: disposal falls arbitrarily far behind, which can contribute to an OutOfMemoryError under load, and the key material those objects hold stays resident in the heap for as long as they are queued, defeating the purpose of the zeroisation. The behaviour was not a problem on Java 8 or Java 11; it is later JVMs, on which finalization has been deprecated and progressively de-emphasised, where it becomes one. Disposal of these classes now runs from a java.lang.ref.Cleaner registered in the multi-release jdk1.9 overlay, so on Java 9 and later it no longer depends on the finalizer being scheduled. Bouncy Castle for Java (bcprov) and Bouncy Castle for Java LTS are not affected, as neither implements the finalizer-based zeroisation scheme.
Severity
8.7
High
CVSS 4.0: 8.7 (NVD)
Exploitation
EPSS <1%
Type
CWE-772Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime
Timeline
Published8 Aug 2026
Updated30 Aug 2026
First seen8 Aug 2026
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