GHSA-848j-6mx2-7j84 — low GitHub Advisory (CVE-2025-14505) in npm/elliptic

Description

The ECDSA implementation of the Elliptic package generates incorrect signatures if an interim value of 'k' (as computed based on step 3.2 of RFC 6979 https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6979 ) has leading zeros and is susceptible to cryptanalysis, which can lead to secret key exposure. This happens, because the byte-length of 'k' is incorrectly computed, resulting in its getting truncated during the computation. Legitimate transactions or communications will be broken as a result. Furthermore, due to the nature of the fault, attackers could–under certain conditions–derive the secret key, if they could get their hands on both a faulty signature generated by a vulnerable version of Elliptic and a correct signature for the same inputs.

This issue affects all known versions of Elliptic (at the time of writing, versions less than or equal to 6.6.1).

Basic information

Type: reviewed
Severity: low
Advisory on GitHub: Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory: —
Source code: Browse source ↗
Published (advisory): 2026-01-08 21:30:34 UTC
Updated: 2026-01-09 20:19:43 UTC
GitHub reviewed: 2026-01-09 20:19:43 UTC
NVD published: 2026-01-08

Score	Percentile
0.01%	1.15%

CVSS Scores

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector
5.6	3.1	—	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L` 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:L) Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump. Integrity (I:L) Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes. Availability (A:L) Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
2.9	4.0	—	`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:N) Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network. Attack complexity (AC:L) Exploitation conditions are straightforward and stable. Attack requirements (AT:P) Additional preconditions must be present for exploitation. Privileges required (PR:N) No privileges are required. User interaction (UI:N) No user interaction is required. Vulnerable system confidentiality impact (VC:L) Limited confidentiality impact on the vulnerable system. Vulnerable system integrity impact (VI:L) Limited integrity impact on the vulnerable system. Vulnerable system availability impact (VA:L) Limited availability impact on the vulnerable system. Subsequent system confidentiality impact (SC:N) No confidentiality impact on subsequent systems. Subsequent system integrity impact (SI:N) No integrity impact on subsequent systems. Subsequent system availability impact (SA:N) No availability impact on subsequent systems. Exploit maturity (threat) (E:P) Proof-of-concept: public PoC exists; no reported exploitation and no known simplification tools.

Identifiers

Type	Value
GHSA	GHSA-848j-6mx2-7j84 ↗
CVE	CVE-2025-14505 ↗

CWEs

CWE id	Name
CWE-1240	Use of a Cryptographic Primitive with a Risky Implementation

Affected packages (1)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	First patched	Vulnerable functions
npm	elliptic	<= 6.6.1	—	—

Elliptic Uses a Cryptographic Primitive with a Risky Implementation