GHSA-2fmv-rv2c-59x7: Medium severity nuget/System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs vulnerability
Executive summary
Microsoft is releasing this security advisory to provide information about a vulnerability in System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs. This advisory also provides guidance on what developers can do to update their applications to remove this vulnerability.
On Windows, EnvelopedCms.Decode can perform quadratic work while processing attacker-supplied CMS or PKCS#7 attributes, causing pre-authentication CPU exhaustion.
Announcement
Announcement for this issue can be found at https://github.com/dotnet/announcements/issues/454
CVSS Details
- Version: 3.1 - Severity: Moderate - Score: 5.9 - Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness: CWE-405 (Asymmetric Resource Consumption (Amplification))
Affected Platforms
- Platforms: Windows - Architectures: All
<a name="affected-packages"></a>Affected Packages
The vulnerability affects Microsoft .NET projects that use an affected package version listed below.
Package name | Affected version | Patched version ------------ | ---------------- | --------------- System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs | >= 10.0.0, <= 10.0.12 | 10.0.13 System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs | >= 11.0.0-preview.1, <= 11.0.0-rc.1 | 11.0.0-rc.2 System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs | >= 8.0.0, <= 8.0.1 | 8.0.2 System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs | >= 9.0.0, <= 9.0.20 | 9.0.21
Advisory FAQ
<a name="how-affected"></a>How do I know if I am affected?
If using a package listed in affected packages, you're exposed to the vulnerability.
<a name="how-fix"></a>How do I fix the issue?
1. To fix the issue please install the latest version of .NET. If you have installed one or more .NET SDKs through Visual Studio, Visual Studio will prompt you to update Visual Studio, which will also update your .NET SDKs. 2. If your application references the vulnerable package, update the package reference to the patched version. You can list the versions you have installed by running the dotnet --info command.
Once you have installed the updated runtime or SDK, restart your apps for the update to take effect.
Additionally, if you've deployed self-contained applications targeting any of the impacted versions, these applications are also vulnerable and must be recompiled and redeployed.
Other Information
Reporting Security Issues
If you have found a potential security issue in a supported version of .NET, please report it to the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) via the MSRC Researcher Portal. Further information can be found in the MSRC Report an Issue FAQ.
Security reports made through MSRC may qualify for the Microsoft .NET Bounty. Details of the Microsoft .NET Bounty Program including terms and conditions are at https://aka.ms/corebounty.
Support
You can ask questions about this issue on GitHub in the .NET GitHub organization. The main repos are located at https://github.com/dotnet/runtime. The Announcements repo (https://github.com/dotnet/Announcements) will contain this bulletin as an issue and will include a link to a discussion issue. You can ask questions in the linked discussion issue.
Disclaimer
The information provided in this advisory is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Microsoft disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special damages, even if Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages so the foregoing limitation may not apply.
External Links
CVE-2026-70162
Acknowledgements
- Dr.-Ing Ashar Javed (@soaj1664ashar)
Revisions
V1.0 (10/13/2026): Advisory published.
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Upgrade
Upgrade
nuget/System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 9.0.21 - Upgrade
Upgrade
nuget/System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 8.0.2 - Upgrade
Upgrade
nuget/System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 11.0.0-rc.2 - Upgrade
Upgrade
nuget/System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 10.0.13 - Upgrade
Upgrade
System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 10.0.13 - Upgrade
Upgrade
System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 11.0.0-rc.2 - Upgrade
Upgrade
System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 8.0.2 - Upgrade
Upgrade
System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 9.0.21 - Operational
Recompile and redeploy self-contained applications targeting impacted versions.
- Operational
Restart applications after installing the updated runtime or SDK.
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
Which applications are realistically exposed to this issue?
Applications running on Windows, on any architecture, are exposed when they use an affected version of System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs and process attacker-supplied CMS or PKCS#7 attributes through EnvelopedCms.Decode. The exhaustion can occur before authentication.
What does an attacker need to exploit it?
An attacker needs to provide crafted CMS or PKCS#7 attributes for the application to decode. The advisory rates the attack as network-reachable with no required privileges or user interaction, but with high attack complexity.
What is the operational impact?
Processing malicious input can trigger quadratic CPU work, resulting in CPU exhaustion and an availability impact. The advisory does not identify confidentiality or integrity impact.
How can I identify potentially affected deployments?
Inventory Windows applications that reference System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs and determine whether they call EnvelopedCms.Decode on untrusted or externally supplied CMS/PKCS#7 data. The advisory identifies affected package versions beginning at 10.0.0.