CVE-2023-44273
Duplicate Advisory: Consensys gnark-crypto allows Signature Malleability
Consensys gnark-crypto through 0.11.2 allows Signature Malleability. This occurs because deserialisation of EdDSA and ECDSA signatures does not ensure that the data is in a certain interval.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
Consensys gnark-crypto through 0.11.2 allows Signature Malleability. This occurs because deserialisation of EdDSA and ECDSA signatures does not ensure that the data is in a certain interval.
- Record
CVE-2023-44273- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-502
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
Consensys gnark-crypto through 0.11.2 allows Signature Malleability. This occurs because deserialisation of EdDSA and ECDSA signatures does not ensure that the data is in a certain interval.
- Record
CVE-2023-44273- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-2485 No score
Consensys gnark-crypto through 0.11.2 allows Signature Malleability. This occurs because deserialisation of EdDSA and ECDSA signatures does not ensure that the data is in a certain interval.
- Record
EUVD-2023-2485- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-9xfq-8j3r-xp5g
Duplicate Advisory: Consensys gnark-crypto allows Signature Malleability
Duplicate Advisory
This advisory has been withdrawn because it is a duplicate of GHSA-fr8m-434r-g3xp. This link is maintained to preserve external references.
Original Description
Consensys gnark-crypto through 0.11.2 allows Signature Malleability. This occurs because deserialisation of EdDSA and ECDSA signatures does not ensure that the data is in a certain interval.
- Record
GHSA-9xfq-8j3r-xp5g- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-502
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-fr8m-434r-g3xp
gnark-crypto doesn't range check input values during ECDSA and EdDSA signature deserialization
Impact
During deserialization of ECDSA and EdDSA signatures gnark-crypto did not check that the values are in the range [1, n-1] with n being the corresponding modulus (either base field modulus in case of R in EdDSA, and scalar field modulus in case of s,r in ECDSA and s in EdDSA). As this also allowed zero inputs, then it was possible to craft a signature which lead to null pointer dereference, leading to denial-of-service of an application. This also enabled weak signature malleability when the users assumed uniqueness of the serialized signatures (but not the underlying modulo reduced values).
We are not aware of any users impacted by the bug. The implemented signature schemes in gnark-crypto complement the in-circuit versions in gnark, allowing to have end-to-end tests.
Patches
The issue was patched in PR #449. The fix returns an error during deserialization if the values do not belong to the ranges [1, n-1].
The fix is included in release v0.12.0 and upwards.
Workarounds
Users can manually validate the inputs to be in corresponding ranges when using serialized signatures (or digests of them) as unique keys.
To address the denial-of-service, the users can install hook to recover panics and recover
Resources
- Verichains advisory for signature malleability.
- Fix https://github.com/Consensys/gnark-crypto/pull/449
- Go blog post "Defer, Panic, and Recover"
- gnark v0.12.0
Acknowledgement
Lack of range checks leading to signature malleability was reported by Verichains.
- Record
GHSA-fr8m-434r-g3xp- CVSS 3.1
- 5.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-347
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-9xfq-8j3r-xp5g
Duplicate Advisory: Consensys gnark-crypto allows Signature Malleability
Duplicate Advisory
This advisory has been withdrawn because it is a duplicate of GHSA-fr8m-434r-g3xp. This link is maintained to preserve external references.
Original Description
Consensys gnark-crypto through 0.11.2 allows Signature Malleability. This occurs because deserialisation of EdDSA and ECDSA signatures does not ensure that the data is in a certain interval.
- Record
GHSA-9xfq-8j3r-xp5g- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-502
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Show 4 moreShow less
OSVGHSA-fr8m-434r-g3xp
gnark-crypto doesn't range check input values during ECDSA and EdDSA signature deserialization
Impact
During deserialization of ECDSA and EdDSA signatures gnark-crypto did not check that the values are in the range [1, n-1] with n being the corresponding modulus (either base field modulus in case of R in EdDSA, and scalar field modulus in case of s,r in ECDSA and s in EdDSA). As this also allowed zero inputs, then it was possible to craft a signature which lead to null pointer dereference, leading to denial-of-service of an application. This also enabled weak signature malleability when the users assumed uniqueness of the serialized signatures (but not the underlying modulo reduced values).
We are not aware of any users impacted by the bug. The implemented signature schemes in gnark-crypto complement the in-circuit versions in gnark, allowing to have end-to-end tests.
Patches
The issue was patched in PR #449. The fix returns an error during deserialization if the values do not belong to the ranges [1, n-1].
The fix is included in release v0.12.0 and upwards.
Workarounds
Users can manually validate the inputs to be in corresponding ranges when using serialized signatures (or digests of them) as unique keys.
To address the denial-of-service, the users can install hook to recover panics and recover
Resources
- Verichains advisory for signature malleability.
- Fix https://github.com/Consensys/gnark-crypto/pull/449
- Go blog post "Defer, Panic, and Recover"
- gnark v0.12.0
Acknowledgement
Lack of range checks leading to signature malleability was reported by Verichains.
- Record
GHSA-fr8m-434r-g3xp- CVSS 3.1
- 5.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-347
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV No score
Consensys gnark-crypto through 0.11.2 allows Signature Malleability. This occurs because deserialisation of EdDSA and ECDSA signatures does not ensure that the data is in a certain interval.
- Record
CVE-2023-44273- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGO-2023-2096 No score
Signature malleability in github.com/consensys/gnark-crypto
Signature malleability in github.com/consensys/gnark-crypto
- Record
GO-2023-2096- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGO-2025-4027 No score
Gnark-crypto doesn't range check input values during ECDSA and EdDSA deserialization in github.com/consensys/gnark-crypto
Gnark-crypto doesn't range check input values during ECDSA and EdDSA deserialization in github.com/consensys/gnark-crypto
- Record
GO-2025-4027- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
github.com/consensys/gnark-cryptoGo |
before 0.12.0 | 0.12.0 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected | ||
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2023-44273 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) in Consensys Gnark-crypto, published September 28, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.05%, the 64th percentile. Fixed in github.com/consensys/gnark-crypto 0.12.0.