GHSA-36rp-hhp4-wh83: Botan: scrypt V-buffer heap overflow on 32-bit from constructor-accepted parameters

Published Nov 6, 2026
·
Updated

Botan is a C++ cryptography library. From 2.7.0 until 3.13.0, Botan's Scrypt implementation on 32-bit platforms computes required memory with unchecked multiplication, allowing attacker-controlled Scrypt parameters to wrap the allocation size and create a buffer smaller than the algorithm subsequently writes. The issue affects systems that enable Scrypt and accept arbitrary parameters from a hostile source, including applications that decrypt attacker-supplied encrypted private keys. A triggering parameter set can cause approximately four gigabytes of Scrypt output to be written past the allocated heap buffer, immediately crashing the process and causing denial of service. Arbitrary code execution is not demonstrated and appears difficult, but cannot be excluded from the overwrite primitive. This issue is fixed in version 3.13.0.

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade Botan to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 3.13.0

Event History

Nov 6, 2026
CVE Published
via OSV·09:25 PM
Data Sourced
via OSV·09:25 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness

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