Critical severity · published Sep 8, 2026
CVE-2026-53939
OpenIDC/cjose uses all-zero Content Encryption Key for AES-CBC-HMAC JWE encryption
9.1
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
OpenIDC/cjose is a C library implementing the Javascript Object Signing and Encryption (JOSE). In versions 0.6.1 through 0.6.2.5, when cjose encrypts a JWE using an AES-CBC-HMAC content-encryption algorithm (`A128CBC-HS256`, `A192CBC-HS384`, or `A256CBC-HS512`) together with any key-management algorithm that generates a fresh content-encryption key (CEK), the CEK is all zero bytes instead of being randomly generated. The resulting JWE is therefore encrypted and authenticated under a fixed, publicly known key, so anyone who obtains the JWE can recover the plaintext and forge or modify the content. This is fixed in version 0.6.2.6 by `_cjose_jwe_set_cek_aes_cbc()` generating the CEK from `RAND_bytes`. A regression test asserts that the `encrypted_key` differs across two encryptions for each AES-CBC-HMAC variant. Until upgrading, for data encrypted with cjose, three options are available. Use an AES-GCM `enc` (`A128GCM` / `A192GCM` / `A256GCM`) instead of an AES-CBC-HMAC `enc`, use `alg=dir` with a caller-supplied CEK, or avoid using cjose for JWE encryption with the affected algorithm pair. These are mitigations for new ciphertexts only; data already encrypted under the zero key remains compromised and should be re-encrypted (and any secrets it contained rotated).
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 16% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
CJ
cjose · OpenIDC
>= 0.6.1, < 0.6.2.6 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53939
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53939
github.com
https://github.com/OpenIDC/cjose/commit/2a6e5bd969fa20059fb00913fb9f57d77ea6a4d9
github.com
https://github.com/OpenIDC/cjose/releases/tag/v0.6.2.6
github.com
https://github.com/OpenIDC/cjose/security/advisories/GHSA-f6wf-pqg3-6wqq
More from cjose
8.2
CVE-2026-53938
OpenIDC/cjose has a heap buffer overflow in AES Key Wrap decryption (A128KW/A192KW/A256KW)
