httpsig-rs: HMAC verification is vulnerable to timing attack

Description

Summary

HMAC signature comparison is not timing-safe and is vulnerable to timing attacks.

Details

SharedKey::sign() returns a Vec<u8> which has a non-constant-time equality implementation.

Hmac::finalize() returns a constant-time wrapper (CtOutput) which was discarded. Alternatively, Hmac has a constant-time verify() method.

The problem reported here is due to the following lines in SharedKey::sign() of the previous code:

let mut mac = HmacSha256::new_from_slice(key).unwrap();
mac.update(data);
Ok(mac.finalize().into_bytes().to_vec())

and the merged update changes the third line to directly verify with verify_slice.

Impact

Anyone who uses HS256 signature verification is vulnerably to Timing Attack that allows the attacker to forge a signature.

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
medium
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Open repository advisory ↗
Source code
Browse source ↗
Published (advisory)
2025-09-12 21:11:13 UTC
Updated
2025-09-12 21:11:13 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2025-09-12 21:11:13 UTC
NVD published
2025-09-12

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.03% 9.99%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
5.9 3.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.

Identifiers

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-208 Observable Timing Discrepancy

Credits

  • rasendubi (reporter)

Affected packages (1)

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

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
rust httpsig < 0.0.19 0.0.19

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence