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CVE-2020-14968

RSA-PSS signature validation vulnerability by prepending zeros in jsrsasign

9.8 CriticalFix available

An issue was discovered in the jsrsasign package before 8.0.17 for Node.js. Its RSASSA-PSS (RSA-PSS) implementation does not detect signature manipulation/modification by prepending '\0' bytes to a signature (it accepts these modified signatures as valid). An attacker can abuse this behavior in an application by creating multiple valid signatures where only one signature should exist. Also, an attacker might prepend these bytes with the goal of triggering memory corruption issues.

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

2.86%Up 1.7 points since Apr 14, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

NVD Score used 9.8

An issue was discovered in the jsrsasign package before 8.0.17 for Node.js. Its RSASSA-PSS (RSA-PSS) implementation does not detect signature manipulation/modification by prepending '\0' bytes to a signature (it accepts these modified signatures as valid). An attacker can abuse this behavior in an application by creating multiple valid signatures where only one signature should exist. Also, an attacker might prepend these bytes with the goal of triggering memory corruption issues.

Record
CVE-2020-14968
CVSS 3.1
9.8 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.0
7.5 HighAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Weakness
CWE-119
Updated
2026-11-02
CVE List No score

An issue was discovered in the jsrsasign package before 8.0.17 for Node.js. Its RSASSA-PSS (RSA-PSS) implementation does not detect signature manipulation/modification by prepending '\0' bytes to a signature (it accepts these modified signatures as valid). An attacker can abuse this behavior in an application by creating multiple valid signatures where only one signature should exist. Also, an attacker might prepend these bytes with the goal of triggering memory corruption issues.

Record
CVE-2020-14968
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-0507 No score

An issue was discovered in the jsrsasign package before 8.0.17 for Node.js. Its RSASSA-PSS (RSA-PSS) implementation does not detect signature manipulation/modification by prepending '\0' bytes to a signature (it accepts these modified signatures as valid). An attacker can abuse this behavior in an application by creating multiple valid signatures where only one signature should exist. Also, an attacker might prepend these bytes with the goal of triggering memory corruption issues.

Record
EUVD-2020-0507
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-q3gh-5r98-j4h3 9.8

RSA-PSS signature validation vulnerability by prepending zeros in jsrsasign

Impact

Jsrsasign can verify RSA-PSS signature which value can expressed as BigInteger. When there is a valid RSA-PSS signature value, this vulnerability is also accept value with prepending zeros as a valid signature.

  • If you are not use RSA-PSS signature validation, this vulnerability is not affected.
  • Risk to accept a forged or crafted message to be signed is low.
  • Risk to raise memory corruption is low since jsrsasign uses BigInteger class.

Patches

Users using RSA-PSS signature validation should upgrade to 8.0.17.

Workarounds

Reject RSA-PSS signatures with unnecessary prepending zeros.

References

https://github.com/kjur/jsrsasign/security/advisories/GHSA-q3gh-5r98-j4h3 https://github.com/kjur/jsrsasign/issues/438 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-14968 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2020-14968 https://vuldb.com/?id.157125 https://kjur.github.io/jsrsasign/api/symbols/RSAKey.html#.verifyWithMessageHashPSS

Record
GHSA-q3gh-5r98-j4h3
CVSS 3.1
9.8 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-119
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 9.8

An issue was discovered in the jsrsasign package before 8.0.17 for Node.js. Its RSASSA-PSS (RSA-PSS) implementation does not detect signature manipulation/modification by prepending '\0' bytes to a signature (it accepts these modified signatures as valid). An attacker can abuse this behavior in an application by creating multiple valid signatures where only one signature should exist. Also, an attacker might prepend these bytes with the goal of triggering memory corruption issues.

Record
CVE-2020-14968
CVSS 3.1
9.8 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-q3gh-5r98-j4h3 9.8

RSA-PSS signature validation vulnerability by prepending zeros in jsrsasign

Impact

Jsrsasign can verify RSA-PSS signature which value can expressed as BigInteger. When there is a valid RSA-PSS signature value, this vulnerability is also accept value with prepending zeros as a valid signature.

  • If you are not use RSA-PSS signature validation, this vulnerability is not affected.
  • Risk to accept a forged or crafted message to be signed is low.
  • Risk to raise memory corruption is low since jsrsasign uses BigInteger class.

Patches

Users using RSA-PSS signature validation should upgrade to 8.0.17.

Workarounds

Reject RSA-PSS signatures with unnecessary prepending zeros.

References

https://github.com/kjur/jsrsasign/security/advisories/GHSA-q3gh-5r98-j4h3 https://github.com/kjur/jsrsasign/issues/438 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-14968 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2020-14968 https://vuldb.com/?id.157125 https://kjur.github.io/jsrsasign/api/symbols/RSAKey.html#.verifyWithMessageHashPSS

Record
GHSA-q3gh-5r98-j4h3
CVSS 3.1
9.8 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-119
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
jsrsasign
npm
3.0.0 up to 8.0.16
8.0.16
jsrsasign
npm
3.0.0 up to 8.0.17
8.0.17

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
aliasesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2020-14968 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) in Kjur Jsrsasign, published June 22, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 2.86%, the 86th percentile. Fixed in jsrsasign 8.0.16.

References

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