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NVD / CVE Program· CNA GitHub_M

CVE-2025-52473: liboqs secret-dependent branching in HQC reference implementation when compiled with Clang 17-20

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 22/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.23% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: open-quantum-safe liboqs 0.14.0.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to open-quantum-safe liboqs 0.14.0 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

liboqs is a C-language cryptographic library that provides implementations of post-quantum cryptography algorithms. Multiple secret-dependent branches have been identified in the reference implementation of the HQC key encapsulation mechanism when it is compiled with Clang for optimization levels above -O0 (-O1, -O2, etc). A proof-of-concept local attack exploits this secret-dependent information to recover the entire secret key. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.14.0.

MediumCVSS 5.5 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Jul 10, 2025
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
0.2% · 14th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

22

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
22 / 40 · 5.5 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.2%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
5.5
CNA · GitHub_M
5.9
0.4 point gap

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2025-52473

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
openquantumsafeliboqs

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • openquantumsafe liboqsbefore 0.14.0

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (GitHub_M). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • open-quantum-safe liboqs

    • < 0.14.0affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
openSUSE:Leap 16.0liboqsbefore 0.16.0-160000.1.10.16.0-160000.1.1
openSUSE:Leap 16.0oqs-providerbefore 0.11.0.32-160000.1.10.11.0.32-160000.1.1
openSUSE:Tumbleweedliboqsbefore 0.14.0-1.10.14.0-1.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7liboqsbefore 0.16.0-150600.3.6.10.16.0-150600.3.6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7oqs-providerbefore 0.11.0.32-150600.3.9.10.11.0.32-150600.3.9.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 16.0liboqsbefore 0.16.0-160000.1.10.16.0-160000.1.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 16.0oqs-providerbefore 0.11.0.32-160000.1.10.11.0.32-160000.1.1

Same product

openquantumsafe: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2024-31510An issue in Open Quantum Safe liboqs v.10.0 allows a remote attacker to escalate privileges via the crypto_sign_signature parameter in the /
    39Monitor
  • CVE-2024-54137liboqs has a correctness error in HQC decapsulation
    30Monitor
  • CVE-2024-36405Control-flow timing leak in Kyber reference implementation when compiled with Clang 15-18 for -Os, -O1 and other options
    30Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2025-48946May 30, 2025 · liboqs affected by theoretical design flaw in HQC
    14Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-44518May 29, 2026 · liboqs: XMSS Buffer Overread Bug
    21Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-46344May 29, 2026 · liboqs: Heap-buffer-overflow in XMSS verification path via OID-controlled parameter mismatch (xmss_commons.c:194)
    21Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
open-quantum-safe liboqs0.14.0 · descriptionVendor (CNA)
opensuse:liboqs0.14.0-1.1 · openSUSE:TumbleweedPackage registry (OSV)
opensuse:oqs-provider0.11.0.32-160000.1.1 · openSUSE:Leap 16.0Package registry (OSV)
suse:liboqs0.16.0-160000.1.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 16.0Package registry (OSV)
suse:oqs-provider0.11.0.32-160000.1.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 16.0Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

  • CVE-2024-54137216 days apartliboqs has a correctness error in HQC decapsulation
    30Monitor

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
none
Availability
none
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
None

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-200 · Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

nvd-primary

Root cause

The extension requests broader permissions than its function needs and sends the data it collects out for purposes beyond its stated function.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-200 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

json
{  "permissions": ["tabs", "<all_urls>"],  "background": { "service_worker": "analytics.js" }}

Fixed

json
{  "permissions": ["activeTab"],  "host_permissions": ["https://yildiz.example/*"]}

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (1 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records