Description
liboqs is a C-language cryptographic library that provides implementations of post-quantum cryptography algorithms. A control-flow timing lean has been identified in the reference implementation of the Kyber key encapsulation mechanism when it is compiled with Clang 15-18 for `-Os`, `-O1`, and other compilation options. A proof-of-concept local attack on the reference implementation leaks the entire ML-KEM 512 secret key in ~10 minutes using end-to-end decapsulation timing measurements. The issue has been fixed in version 0.10.1. As a possible workaround, some compiler options may produce vectorized code that does not leak secret information, however relying on these compiler options as a workaround may not be reliable.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| open-quantum-safe | liboqs | < 0.10.1 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES 15 SP6 | liboqs | 0.12.0-150600.3.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:0005-1 |
| SLES 15 SP6 | oqs-provider | 0.7.0-150600.3.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:0005-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | liboqs | 0.10.1-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2024:14039-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | liboqs | 0.12.0-150600.3.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:0005-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | oqs-provider | 0.7.0-150600.3.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:0005-1 |
Advisories 2
- SUSE-SU-2025:0005-1 Security update for liboqs, oqs-provider SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2024:14039-1 liboqs-devel-0.10.1-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · May 7, 2025
References
- https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs/security/advisories/GHSA-f2v9-5498-2vpp
- https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs/commit/982c762c242ef549c914891b47bf6e0ed6321f91
- https://github.com/pq-crystals/kyber/commit/9b8d30698a3e7449aeb34e62339d4176f11e3c6c
- https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs/blob/7eecda6095c003ddded7175a1ffdf35a2ce63ed5/src/kem/kyber/pqcrystals-kyber_kyber512_ref/poly.c#L166