Description
liboqs is a C-language cryptographic library that provides implementations of post-quantum cryptography algorithms. Prior to 0.16.0, an out-of-bounds read has been identified in the XMSS and XMSS^MT stateful signature verification code. When the verification function is called with a correctly-sized signature buffer for the declared algorithm but a public key whose OID bytes (pk[0..3]) reference a different XMSS parameter set with a larger sig_bytes, the implementation re-parses the OID from the public key inside xmss_sign_open / xmssmt_sign_open and uses the resulting (larger) sig_bytes to index the caller-supplied signature buffer. As with CVE-2026-44518, the out-of-bounds bytes are consumed only as input to an internal hash computation and are not returned to the caller, so no oracle exists to leak their contents to an attacker. The primary observable effect is a possible crash (denial of service) of the verifying process if the read crosses into an unmapped memory page. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.16.0.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| open-quantum-safe | liboqs | < 0.16.0 | — |
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 SP7 | liboqs | 0.16.0-150600.3.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3420-1 |
| SLES 15 SP7 | oqs-provider | 0.11.0.32-150600.3.9.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3420-1 |
| SLES 15 SP6 | liboqs | 0.16.0-150600.3.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3420-1 |
| SLES 15 SP6 | oqs-provider | 0.11.0.32-150600.3.9.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3420-1 |
Show 3 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES for SAP 16.0 | liboqs | 0.16.0-160000.1.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23313-1 |
| SLES for SAP 16.0 | oqs-provider | 0.11.0.32-160000.1.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23313-1 |
| SLES for SAP 15 SP6 | liboqs | 0.16.0-150600.3.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3420-1 |
| SLES for SAP 15 SP6 | oqs-provider | 0.11.0.32-150600.3.9.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3420-1 |
| SLES 16.0 | liboqs | 0.16.0-160000.1.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23313-1 |
| SLES 16.0 | oqs-provider | 0.11.0.32-160000.1.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23313-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | liboqs | 0.16.0-2.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:11365-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | liboqs | 0.16.0-160000.1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:21634-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | oqs-provider | 0.11.0.32-160000.1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:21634-1 |
Advisories 4
- SUSE-SU-2026:23313-1 Security update for liboqs SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Sep 25, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:21634-1 Security update for liboqs SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Aug 27, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:3420-1 Security update for liboqs, oqs-provider SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Jul 30, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:11365-1 liboqs-devel-0.16.0-2.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Jul 25, 2026