CVE-2026-24850 | ML-DSA Signature Verification Accepts Signatures with Repeated Hint Indices

The ML-DSA crate is a Rust implementation of the Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Standard (ML-DSA). Starting in version 0.0.4 and prior to version 0.1.0-rc.4, the ML-DSA signature verification implementation in the RustCrypto `ml-dsa` crate incorrectly accepts signatures with repeated (duplicate) hint indices. According to the ML-DSA specification (FIPS 204 / RFC 9881), hint indices within each polynomial must be **strictly increasing**. The current implementation uses a non-strict monotonic check (`<=` instead of `<`), allowing duplicate indices. This is a regression bug. The original implementation was correct, but a commit in version 0.0.4 inadvertently changed the strict `<` comparison to `<=`, introducing the vulnerability. Version 0.1.0-rc.4 fixes the issue.

Published: 2026-01-28 Last update: 2026-04-15 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-24850 is rated Low Risk (22/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.01%). Mandatory action: 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-2026-24850

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 2026-01-28 0.01%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-24850

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/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:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
3.9 1.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-24850

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-24850

GHSA-5x2r-hc65-25f9 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: rust — ML-DSA Signature Verification Accepts Signatures with Repeated Hint Indices

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-24850

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
No affected products in dataset.

References for CVE-2026-24850

cvelogic Threat Intelligence