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

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.

Published: 2025-07-10 Last update: 2025-08-22 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2025-52473 is rated Low Risk (36.6/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.16%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-52473

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-05-06 0.05% 0.16% +0.11%
2 2026-04-05 0.03% 0.05% +0.02%
3 2025-07-11 — 0.03% —

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-52473

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.9 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.2 3.6 [email protected]
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-52473

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-52473

vendor priority summary link
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-52473
suse medium CVE-2025-52473 severity moderate: SUSE including 4 source package names (liboqs-devel-0.14.0-1.1, liboqs-devel-32bit-0.14.0-1.1, liboqs8-0.14.0-1.1, liboqs8-32bit-0.14.0-1.1), 4 product×package rows across 1 product lines (openSUSE Tumbleweed): Fixed 4. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-52473/

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-52473

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
openquantumsafe liboqs < 0.14.0 cpe:2.3:a:openquantumsafe:liboqs:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-52473

cvelogic Threat Intelligence