CVE-2024-31497
In PuTTY 0.68 through 0.80 before 0.81, biased ECDSA nonce generation allows an attacker to...
In PuTTY 0.68 through 0.80 before 0.81, biased ECDSA nonce generation allows an attacker to recover a user's NIST P-521 secret key via a quick attack in approximately 60 signatures. This is especially important in a scenario where an adversary is able to read messages signed by PuTTY or Pageant. The required set of signed messages may be publicly readable because they are stored in a public Git service that supports use of SSH for commit signing, and the signatures were made by Pageant through an agent-forwarding mechanism. In other words, an adversary may already have enough signature information to compromise a victim's private key, even if there is no further use of vulnerable PuTTY versions. After a key compromise, an adversary may be able to conduct supply-chain attacks on software maintained in Git. A second, independent scenario is that the adversary is an operator of an SSH server to which the victim authenticates (for remote login or file copy), even though this server is not fully trusted by the victim, and the victim uses the same private key for SSH connections to other services operated by other entities. Here, the rogue server operator (who would otherwise have no way to determine the victim's private key) can derive the victim's private key, and then use it for unauthorized access to those other services. If the other services include Git services, then again it may be possible to conduct supply-chain attacks on software maintained in Git. This also affects, for example, FileZilla before 3.67.0, WinSCP before 6.3.3, TortoiseGit before 2.15.0.1, and TortoiseSVN through 1.14.6.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
5.9
In PuTTY 0.68 through 0.80 before 0.81, biased ECDSA nonce generation allows an attacker to recover a user's NIST P-521 secret key via a quick attack in approximately 60 signatures. This is especially important in a scenario where an adversary is able to read messages signed by PuTTY or Pageant. The required set of signed messages may be publicly readable because they are stored in a public Git service that supports use of SSH for commit signing, and the signatures were made by Pageant through an agent-forwarding mechanism. In other words, an adversary may already have enough signature information to compromise a victim's private key, even if there is no further use of vulnerable PuTTY versions. After a key compromise, an adversary may be able to conduct supply-chain attacks on software maintained in Git. A second, independent scenario is that the adversary is an operator of an SSH server to which the victim authenticates (for remote login or file copy), even though this server is not fully trusted by the victim, and the victim uses the same private key for SSH connections to other services operated by other entities. Here, the rogue server operator (who would otherwise have no way to determine the victim's private key) can derive the victim's private key, and then use it for unauthorized access to those other services. If the other services include Git services, then again it may be possible to conduct supply-chain attacks on software maintained in Git. This also affects, for example, FileZilla before 3.67.0, WinSCP before 6.3.3, TortoiseGit before 2.15.0.1, and TortoiseSVN through 1.14.6.
- Record
CVE-2024-31497- CVSS 3.1
- 5.9 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-338
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List
5.9
In PuTTY 0.68 through 0.80 before 0.81, biased ECDSA nonce generation allows an attacker to recover a user's NIST P-521 secret key via a quick attack in approximately 60 signatures. This is especially important in a scenario where an adversary is able to read messages signed by PuTTY or Pageant. The required set of signed messages may be publicly readable because they are stored in a public Git service that supports use of SSH for commit signing, and the signatures were made by Pageant through an agent-forwarding mechanism. In other words, an adversary may already have enough signature information to compromise a victim's private key, even if there is no further use of vulnerable PuTTY versions. After a key compromise, an adversary may be able to conduct supply-chain attacks on software maintained in Git. A second, independent scenario is that the adversary is an operator of an SSH server to which the victim authenticates (for remote login or file copy), even though this server is not fully trusted by the victim, and the victim uses the same private key for SSH connections to other services operated by other entities. Here, the rogue server operator (who would otherwise have no way to determine the victim's private key) can derive the victim's private key, and then use it for unauthorized access to those other services. If the other services include Git services, then again it may be possible to conduct supply-chain attacks on software maintained in Git. This also affects, for example, FileZilla before 3.67.0, WinSCP before 6.3.3, TortoiseGit before 2.15.0.1, and TortoiseSVN through 1.14.6.
- Record
CVE-2024-31497- CVSS 3.1
- 5.9 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-338
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2024-29377
5.9
In PuTTY 0.68 through 0.80 before 0.81, biased ECDSA nonce generation allows an attacker to recover a user's NIST P-521 secret key via a quick attack in approximately 60 signatures. This is especially important in a scenario where an adversary is able to read messages signed by PuTTY or Pageant. The required set of signed messages may be publicly readable because they are stored in a public Git service that supports use of SSH for commit signing, and the signatures were made by Pageant through an agent-forwarding mechanism. In other words, an adversary may already have enough signature information to compromise a victim's private key, even if there is no further use of vulnerable PuTTY versions. After a key compromise, an adversary may be able to conduct supply-chain attacks on software maintained in Git. A second, independent scenario is that the adversary is an operator of an SSH server to which the victim authenticates (for remote login or file copy), even though this server is not fully trusted by the victim, and the victim uses the same private key for SSH connections to other services operated by other entities. Here, the rogue server operator (who would otherwise have no way to determine the victim's private key) can derive the victim's private key, and then use it for unauthorized access to those other services. If the other services include Git services, then again it may be possible to conduct supply-chain attacks on software maintained in Git. This also affects, for example, FileZilla before 3.67.0, WinSCP before 6.3.3, TortoiseGit before 2.15.0.1, and TortoiseSVN through 1.14.6.
- Record
EUVD-2024-29377- CVSS 3.1
- 5.9 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-6p4c-r453-8743 No score
In PuTTY 0.68 through 0.80 before 0.81, biased ECDSA nonce generation allows an attacker to...
In PuTTY 0.68 through 0.80 before 0.81, biased ECDSA nonce generation allows an attacker to recover a user's NIST P-521 secret key via a quick attack in approximately 60 signatures. This is especially important in a scenario where an adversary is able to read messages signed by PuTTY or Pageant. One scenario is that the adversary is an operator of an SSH server to which the victim authenticates (for remote login or file copy), even though this server is not fully trusted by the victim, and the victim uses the same private key for SSH connections to other services operated by other entities. Here, the rogue server operator (who would otherwise have no way to determine the victim's private key) can derive the victim's private key, and then use it for unauthorized access to those other services. Because SSH is sometimes used to authenticate to Git services, it is possible that this vulnerability could be leveraged for supply-chain attacks on software maintained in Git. It is also conceivable that signed messages from PuTTY or Pageant are readable by adversaries more easily in other scenarios, but none have yet been disclosed.
- Record
GHSA-6p4c-r453-8743- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVALPINE-CVE-2024-31497
5.9
In PuTTY 0.68 through 0.80 before 0.81, biased ECDSA nonce generation allows an attacker to recover a user's NIST P-521 secret key via a quick attack in approximately 60 signatures. This is especially important in a scenario where an adversary is able to read messages signed by PuTTY or Pageant. The required set of signed messages may be publicly readable because they are stored in a public Git service that supports use of SSH for commit signing, and the signatures were made by Pageant through an agent-forwarding mechanism. In other words, an adversary may already have enough signature information to compromise a victim's private key, even if there is no further use of vulnerable PuTTY versions. After a key compromise, an adversary may be able to conduct supply-chain attacks on software maintained in Git. A second, independent scenario is that the adversary is an operator of an SSH server to which the victim authenticates (for remote login or file copy), even though this server is not fully trusted by the victim, and the victim uses the same private key for SSH connections to other services operated by other entities. Here, the rogue server operator (who would otherwise have no way to determine the victim's private key) can derive the victim's private key, and then use it for unauthorized access to those other services. If the other services include Git services, then again it may be possible to conduct supply-chain attacks on software maintained in Git. This also affects, for example, FileZilla before 3.67.0, WinSCP before 6.3.3, TortoiseGit before 2.15.0.1, and TortoiseSVN through 1.14.6.
- Record
ALPINE-CVE-2024-31497- CVSS 3.1
- 5.9 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-03
OSV
5.9
In PuTTY 0.68 through 0.80 before 0.81, biased ECDSA nonce generation allows an attacker to recover a user's NIST P-521 secret key via a quick attack in approximately 60 signatures. This is especially important in a scenario where an adversary is able to read messages signed by PuTTY or Pageant. The required set of signed messages may be publicly readable because they are stored in a public Git service that supports use of SSH for commit signing, and the signatures were made by Pageant through an agent-forwarding mechanism. In other words, an adversary may already have enough signature information to compromise a victim's private key, even if there is no further use of vulnerable PuTTY versions. After a key compromise, an adversary may be able to conduct supply-chain attacks on software maintained in Git. A second, independent scenario is that the adversary is an operator of an SSH server to which the victim authenticates (for remote login or file copy), even though this server is not fully trusted by the victim, and the victim uses the same private key for SSH connections to other services operated by other entities. Here, the rogue server operator (who would otherwise have no way to determine the victim's private key) can derive the victim's private key, and then use it for unauthorized access to those other services. If the other services include Git services, then again it may be possible to conduct supply-chain attacks on software maintained in Git. This also affects, for example, FileZilla before 3.67.0, WinSCP before 6.3.3, TortoiseGit before 2.15.0.1, and TortoiseSVN through 1.14.6.
- Record
CVE-2024-31497- CVSS 3.1
- 5.9 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Show 6 moreShow less
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2024-31497
5.9
In PuTTY 0.68 through 0.80 before 0.81, biased ECDSA nonce generation allows an attacker to recover a user's NIST P-521 secret key via a quick attack in approximately 60 signatures. This is especially important in a scenario where an adversary is able to read messages signed by PuTTY or Pageant. The required set of signed messages may be publicly readable because they are stored in a public Git service that supports use of SSH for commit signing, and the signatures were made by Pageant through an agent-forwarding mechanism. In other words, an adversary may already have enough signature information to compromise a victim's private key, even if there is no further use of vulnerable PuTTY versions. After a key compromise, an adversary may be able to conduct supply-chain attacks on software maintained in Git. A second, independent scenario is that the adversary is an operator of an SSH server to which the victim authenticates (for remote login or file copy), even though this server is not fully trusted by the victim, and the victim uses the same private key for SSH connections to other services operated by other entities. Here, the rogue server operator (who would otherwise have no way to determine the victim's private key) can derive the victim's private key, and then use it for unauthorized access to those other services. If the other services include Git services, then again it may be possible to conduct supply-chain attacks on software maintained in Git. This also affects, for example, FileZilla before 3.67.0, WinSCP before 6.3.3, TortoiseGit before 2.15.0.1, and TortoiseSVN through 1.14.6.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2024-31497- CVSS 3.1
- 5.9 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2024-31497
5.9
In PuTTY 0.68 through 0.80 before 0.81, biased ECDSA nonce generation allows an attacker to recover a user's NIST P-521 secret key via a quick attack in approximately 60 signatures. This is especially important in a scenario where an adversary is able to read messages signed by PuTTY or Pageant. The required set of signed messages may be publicly readable because they are stored in a public Git service that supports use of SSH for commit signing, and the signatures were made by Pageant through an agent-forwarding mechanism. In other words, an adversary may already have enough signature information to compromise a victim's private key, even if there is no further use of vulnerable PuTTY versions. After a key compromise, an adversary may be able to conduct supply-chain attacks on software maintained in Git. A second, independent scenario is that the adversary is an operator of an SSH server to which the victim authenticates (for remote login or file copy), even though this server is not fully trusted by the victim, and the victim uses the same private key for SSH connections to other services operated by other entities. Here, the rogue server operator (who would otherwise have no way to determine the victim's private key) can derive the victim's private key, and then use it for unauthorized access to those other services. If the other services include Git services, then again it may be possible to conduct supply-chain attacks on software maintained in Git. This also affects, for example, FileZilla before 3.67.0, WinSCP before 6.3.3, TortoiseGit before 2.15.0.1, and TortoiseSVN through 1.14.6.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2024-31497- CVSS 3.1
- 5.9 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2024-0140 No score
Updated putty & filezilla packages fix security vulnerability
The PuTTY client and all related components generate heavily biased ECDSA nonces in the case of NIST P-521. To be more precise, the first 9 bits of each ECDSA nonce are zero. This allows for full secret key recovery in roughly 60 signatures by using state-of-the-art techniques. These signatures can either be harvested by a malicious server (man-in-the-middle attacks are not possible given that clients do not transmit their signature in the clear) or from any other source, e.g. signed git commits through forwarded agents. The nonce generation for other curves is slightly biased as well. However, the bias is negligible and far from enough to perform lattice-based key recovery attacks (not considering cryptanalytical advancements).
- Record
MGASA-2024-0140- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:0111-1 No score
Security update for putty
This update for putty fixes the following issues:
Update to release 0.81
- Fix CVE-2024-31497: NIST P521 / ecdsa-sha2-nistp521 signatures are no longer generated with biased values of k. The previous bias compromises private keys.
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:0111-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:13868-1 No score
putty-0.81-1.1 on GA media
These are all security issues fixed in the putty-0.81-1.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:13868-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:13870-1 No score
filezilla-3.67.0-1.1 on GA media
These are all security issues fixed in the filezilla-3.67.0-1.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:13870-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
puttyAlpine:v3.16 |
0.68 up to 0.81-r0 | 0.81-r0 |
puttyAlpine:v3.17 |
0.68 up to 0.81-r0 | 0.81-r0 |
puttyAlpine:v3.18 |
0.68 up to 0.81-r0 | 0.81-r0 |
puttyAlpine:v3.19 |
0.68 up to 0.81-r0 | 0.81-r0 |
puttyAlpine:v3.20 |
0.68 up to 0.81-r0 | 0.81-r0 |
puttyAlpine:v3.21 |
0.68 up to 0.81-r0 | 0.81-r0 |
puttyAlpine:v3.22 |
0.68 up to 0.81-r0 | 0.81-r0 |
puttyAlpine:v3.23 |
0.68 up to 0.81-r0 | 0.81-r0 |
puttyAlpine:v3.24 |
0.68 up to 0.81-r0 | 0.81-r0 |
filezillaDebian:12 |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.63.0-13.63.0-1+deb12u13.63.0-1+deb12u23.63.0-1+deb12u33.63.2.1-1 Show 32 moreShow less3.63.2.1-23.63.2.1-33.63.2.1-43.64.0-13.65.0-13.65.0-23.65.0-33.66.0-13.66.1-13.66.1-23.66.1-33.66.1-3.13.66.1-3.23.66.1-43.66.4-13.66.4-23.66.5-13.66.5-23.67.0-13.67.1-13.67.1-23.67.1~rc1-13.68.0-13.68.0~rc1-13.68.1-13.69.3-13.69.5-13.69.6-13.69.6-23.70.6-13.70.6-23.71.0-1 |
None known |
Show 22 moreShow less
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
filezillaDebian:13 |
before 3.67.0-1 | 3.67.0-1 |
filezillaDebian:14 |
before 3.67.0-1 | 3.67.0-1 |
puttyDebian:12 |
before 0.78-2+deb12u2, plus listed versions 0.78-20.78-2+deb12u1 |
0.78-2+deb12u2 |
puttyDebian:13 |
before 0.81-1 | 0.81-1 |
puttyDebian:14 |
before 0.81-1 | 0.81-1 |
puttyDebian:10 |
before 0.74-1+deb11u1~deb10u2, plus listed versions 0.70-60.71-10.72-10.72-20.73-10.73-20.73-30.74-1 |
0.74-1+deb11u1~deb10u2 |
puttyMageia:9 |
before 0.81-1.mga9 | 0.81-1.mga9 |
filezillaMageia:9 |
before 3.67.0-1.mga9 | 3.67.0-1.mga9 |
libfilezillaMageia:9 |
before 0.47.0-1.mga9 | 0.47.0-1.mga9 |
filezillaUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.12.0.2-1ubuntu23.14.1-1ubuntu13.15.0.2-0ubuntu13.15.0.2-1ubuntu1 |
None known |
puttyUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 0.65-20.66-10.66-20.66-30.66-4 Show 4 moreShow less0.67-10.67-20.67-3build0.16.04.10.67-3+deb9u1build0.16.04.1 |
None known |
filezillaUbuntu:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.27.0~rc1-13.28.0-1 |
None known |
puttyUbuntu:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 0.70-10.70-20.70-30.70-4 |
None known |
filezillaUbuntu:20.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.39.0-23.45.1-33.45.1-3build13.46.3-1~build13.46.3-13.46.3-1build13.46.3-1ubuntu0.1 |
None known |
puttyUbuntu:20.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 0.72-10.73-10.73-2 |
None known |
filezillaUbuntu:22.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.52.2-33.56.0-13.56.2-13.57.0-13.57.0-1build13.58.0-13.58.0-1ubuntu0.1 |
None known |
puttyUbuntu:22.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 0.75-30.76-10.76-2 |
None known |
filezillaUbuntu:24.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.65.0-33.66.1-23.66.1-33.66.1-3.23.66.1-4 Show 5 moreShow less3.66.4-13.66.4-23.66.5-23.66.5-2build13.66.5-2build2 |
None known |
puttySUSE:Package Hub 15 SP5 |
before 0.81-bp155.2.6.1 | 0.81-bp155.2.6.1 |
puttyopenSUSE:Leap 15.5 |
before 0.81-bp155.2.6.1 | 0.81-bp155.2.6.1 |
puttyopenSUSE:Tumbleweed |
before 0.81-1.1 | 0.81-1.1 |
filezillaopenSUSE:Tumbleweed |
before 3.67.0-1.1 | 3.67.0-1.1 |
Public exploits
Links only. Every CVE stores no exploit code.
| Source | Link | Date |
|---|---|---|
| PoC in GitHub | edutko/cve-2024-31497 | 2024-04-17 |
| PoC in GitHub | sh1k4ku/CVE-2024-31497 | 2024-04-17 |
| PoC in GitHub | HugoBond/CVE-2024-31497-POC | 2024-05-10 |
| PoC in GitHub | LukaWynants/Onderzoek_CVE-2024-31497-POC | 2025-10-16 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected, exploits | OSV | |
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV, PoC in GitHub |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2024-31497 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.9) in Putty, published April 15, 2024. Public exploit code exists. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 5.73%, the 93rd percentile. Fixed in putty 0.81-r0.
References
chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/changes.html
filezilla-project.org/versions.php
chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/wishlist/vuln-p521-bias.html
openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/04/15/6
tartarus.org/~simon/putty-snapshots/htmldoc/Chapter9.html
docs.ccv.brown.edu/oscar/connecting-to-oscar/ssh/ssh-agent-forwarding/key-generation-and-agent-forwarding-with-putty
Show 33 moreShow less
news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40044665
winscp.net/eng/news.php
tortoisegit.org
github.com/advisories/GHSA-6p4c-r453-8743
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2275183
bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1222864
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2024-31497
twitter.com/lambdafu/status/1779969509522133272
git.tartarus.org?h=c193fe9848f50a88a4089aac647fecc31ae96d27&p=simon/putty.git
reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/1c4wmoj/putty_vulnerability_affecting_v068_to_v08
github.com/daedalus/BreakingECDSAwithLLL
bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/putty-ssh-client-flaw-allows-recovery-of-cryptographic-private-keys
twitter.com/CCBalert/status/1780229237569470549
securityonline.info/cve-2024-31497-critical-putty-vulnerability-exposes-private-keys-immediate-action-required
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/WMJH7M663BVO3SY6MFAW2FAZWLLXAPRQ
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MMHILY2K7HQGQRHOC375KRRG2M6625RD
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/IZS3B37GNGWOOV7QU7B7JFK76U4TOP4V
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/WFDZBV7ZCAZ6AH3VCQ34SSY7L3J7VZXZ
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/PUOTQVGC4DISVHQGSPUYGXO6TLDK65LA
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2024/06/msg00014.html
vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/understanding-a-critical-vulnerability-in-putty-biased-ecdsa-nonce-generation-revealing-nist-p-521-private-keys-cve-2024-31497
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/PUOTQVGC4DISVHQGSPUYGXO6TLDK65LA
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/IZS3B37GNGWOOV7QU7B7JFK76U4TOP4V
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/WMJH7M663BVO3SY6MFAW2FAZWLLXAPRQ
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/MMHILY2K7HQGQRHOC375KRRG2M6625RD
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-31497
security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2024-31497
advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2024-0140.html
bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=33103
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2024-31497
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-31497
lists.opensuse.org/archives/list/[email protected]/thread/YWBLPFDJD74NA6KYAQIVS5LANZFUCGL2
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-31497