Quadratic-time escaping when converting X.509 distinguished names to strings (CVE-2026-103604)
Published Last modified Sources: CVE.org, BSI
What is affected, what to do
Inefficient algorithmic complexity in X.509 distinguished name string conversion (X509Name.ToString and IetfUtilities.ValueToString) in Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. bc-csharp before 2.7.0 allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to cause a denial of service through CPU exhaustion via a certificate, CRL, certification request or other structure whose name contains a long attribute value made up of characters that must be escaped, such as commas, or of leading or trailing spaces, because each escaping backslash was inserted into the buffer being scanned, so the work grew quadratically with the length of the value. Applications are exposed when they convert such a name to a string, for example to log or display it, or compare it with IetfUtilities.RdnAreEqual, as PKIX path validation does for directoryName name constraints.
Update Legion of the Bouncy Castle Bc-csharp to version 2.7.0.
- Affected
- Legion of the Bouncy Castle Bc-csharp
lt *..2.7.0
- Legion of the Bouncy Castle Bc-csharp
- Fixed in
- Legion of the Bouncy Castle Bc-csharp
2.7.0
- Legion of the Bouncy Castle Bc-csharp
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Metrics
8.7
Priority
XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.
Source: Vendor (CNA), CVSS v4
7.5
CVSS v3
Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.
Source: CVE.org, BSI
0.3 %
EPSS score
Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 24.8
Show all metrics
- Severity
- High
Priority (0–325)
The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?
Read in glossary- 78.41 Methodology
Exploit maturity
An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.
Read in glossary- no public PoC known
XIEM Effective CVSS
XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.
Read in glossary- 8.7 Methodology
CVSS v3
CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.
Read in glossary- 7.5
CVSS v4
CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.
Read in glossary- 8.7
EPSS score
The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.
Read in glossary- 0.3 %
- Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
EPSS percentile
The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.
Read in glossary- 24.8
- Elevated — this CVE ranks above at least 10% of all CVEs scored today.
KEV status
The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.
Read in glossary- —
- Published
- CISA assessment (SSVC)
- Exploitation: none known · not automatable · Technical impact: partial
- Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 2 October 2026
CWE
CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.
Read in glossary- CWE-407
Detection rules
No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.
Classification under NIS2 and CRA
Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.
NIS2
NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.
Read in glossary- High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
CRA
The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.
Read in glossary- From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
ISO/IEC 27001
ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.
Read in glossary- Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.
Description
Inefficient algorithmic complexity in X.509 distinguished name string conversion (X509Name.ToString and IetfUtilities.ValueToString) in Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. bc-csharp before 2.7.0 allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to cause a denial of service through CPU exhaustion via a certificate, CRL, certification request or other structure whose name contains a long attribute value made up of characters that must be escaped, such as commas, or of leading or trailing spaces, because each escaping backslash was inserted into the buffer being scanned, so the work grew quadratically with the length of the value. Applications are exposed when they convert such a name to a string, for example to log or display it, or compare it with IetfUtilities.RdnAreEqual, as PKIX path validation does for directoryName name constraints.
Source: NVD (NIST), cvelistv5, BSI WID Portal, BSI CSAF
Affected products
The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.
| Affected versions | Fixed in | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. | bc-csharp |
|
|
| bouncycastle | bc-csharp |
|
|
| Open Source | Bouncy Castle bc-csharp |
|
|
| Open Source | Bouncy Castle for Java |
|
|
| Open Source | Bouncy Castle for Java FIPS |
|
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| Open Source | Bouncy Castle for Java LTS |
|
|
Vendors and products
Weakness classes (CWE)
CWE-407Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity
Class
An algorithm in a product has an inefficient worst-case computational complexity that may be detrimental to system performance and can be triggered by an attacker, typically using crafted manipulations that ensure that the worst case is being reached.
Entry at MITRE CWE-407
References & sources
- github.combcgit/bc-csharp/wiki/CVE-2026-103604Vendor advisory, Patch, Vendor advisory
- github.combcgit/bc-csharp/commit/bd03e38bbb49db5be33f4463fc40997400c545ccPatch, Patch
Changes to this CVE
Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).
Initial analysis by NVDNVD
Newly listed as affected:CVSS V3.1: AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Show 4 original changes
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD Type Action Before After CVSS added —AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HProduct configuration added —OR *cpe:2.3:a:bouncycastle:bc-csharp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions up to (excluding) 2.7.0Reference type added —bcorg: https://github.com/bcgit/bc-csharp/commit/bd03e38bbb49db5be33f4463fc40997400c545cc Types: PatchReference type added —bcorg: https://github.com/bcgit/bc-csharp/wiki/CVE-2026-103604 Types: Patch, Vendor AdvisorySource identifier: nvd@nist.gov
Record modifiedCISA ADP
CISA assessment (SSVC): exploitation: none known, automatable: no
Show the original change
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD Type Action Before After SSVC assessment added —{"id":"CVE-2026-103604","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalImpact":"partial"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-10-02T17:44:10.916560Z"}Source identifier: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
Receivedbcorg
CVSS V4.0: AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Weakness type: CWE-407
Description added or changed
Show 6 original changes
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD Type Action Before After Description added —Inefficient algorithmic complexity in X.509 distinguished name string conversion (X509Name.ToString and IetfUtilities.ValueToString) in Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. bc-csharp before 2.7.0 allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to cause a denial of service through CPU exhaustion via a certificate, CRL, certification request or other structure whose name contains a long attribute value made up of characters that must be escaped, such as commas, or of leading or trailing spaces, because each escaping backslash was inserted into the buffer being scanned, so the work grew quadratically with the length of the value. Applications are exposed when they convert such a name to a string, for example to log or display it, or compare it with IetfUtilities.RdnAreEqual, as PKIX path validation does for directoryName name constraints.CVSS added —AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XWeakness type (CWE) added —CWE-407Affected versions (publisher) added —New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/103xxx/CVE-2026-103604.json">CVE-2026-103604</a>Reference added —https://github.com/bcgit/bc-csharp/commit/bd03e38bbb49db5be33f4463fc40997400c545ccReference added —https://github.com/bcgit/bc-csharp/wiki/CVE-2026-103604Source identifier: 91579145-5d7b-4cc5-b925-a0262ff19630
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<a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2026-103604"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2026-103604.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2026-103604 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>