CVE-2026-5477
Description
An integer overflow existed in the wolfCrypt CMAC implementation, that could be exploited to forge CMAC tags. The function wc_CmacUpdate used the guard `if (cmac->totalSz != 0)` to skip XOR-chaining on the first block (where digest is all-zeros and the XOR is a no-op). However, totalSz is word32 and wraps to zero after 2^28 block flushes (4 GiB), causing the guard to erroneously discard the live CBC-MAC chain state. Any two messages sharing a common suffix beyond the 4 GiB mark then produce identical CMAC tags, enabling a zero-work prefix-substitution forgery. The fix removes the guard, making the XOR unconditional; the no-op property on the first block is preserved because digest is zero-initialized by wc_InitCmac_ex.
Predictions
Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.
Mitigations
Vendor advisory: debian — https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-5477
OS impact
| OS | Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| debian | bookworm | affected | |
| debian | bullseye | affected | |
| debian | forky | fixed | 5.9.1-0.1 |
| debian | sid | fixed | 5.9.1-0.1 |
| debian | trixie | affected | |
References
Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.