CVE-2024-0914VulnerabilityPublished 31 Jan 2024Updated 24 Mar 2026

CVE-2024-0914: Observable Discrepancy

Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.9 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.9Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 58% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: High
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: High: A successful attack depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. That is, a successful attack cannot be accomplished at will, but requires the attacker to invest in some measurable amount of effort in preparation or execution against the vulnerable component before a successful attack can be expected. For example, a successful attack may require an attacker to: gather knowledge about the environment in which the vulnerable target/component exists; prepare the target environment to improve exploit reliability; or inject themselves into the logical network path between the target and the resource requested by the victim in order to read and/or modify network communications (e.g., a man in the middle attack).
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 31 Jan 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

AI-suggested

Organizations should monitor for patches or updates from opencryptoki maintainers and apply them promptly once available. Until patches are released, consider disabling or restricting the use of RSA PKCS#1 v1.5 padding in cryptographic operations, migrating to more secure padding schemes like RSA-PSS that are not vulnerable to timing attacks. Implement constant-time cryptographic operations to eliminate timing side-channels, including using hardened cryptographic libraries or hardware modules that resist timing analysis. Conduct thorough code reviews and testing to detect and mitigate timing discrepancies in cryptographic processing. Limit exposure by restricting network access to systems performing sensitive cryptographic operations and employ network-level protections to detect anomalous repeated ciphertext submissions. Additionally, maintain robust monitoring and incident response capabilities to detect potential exploitation attempts. Educate developers and security teams about side-channel risks and best practices in cryptographic implementations.

Description

A timing side-channel vulnerability has been discovered in the opencryptoki package while processing RSA PKCS#1 v1.5 padded ciphertexts. This flaw could potentially enable unauthorized RSA ciphertext decryption or signing, even without access to the corresponding private key.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2024-0914 is the compromise of confidentiality in cryptographic operations using opencryptoki 3.0.0 with RSA PKCS#1 v1.5 padding. Successful exploitation could allow attackers to decrypt sensitive data or forge digital signatures, potentially leading to unauthorized data disclosure, impersonation, or bypassing authentication mechanisms relying on RSA signatures. This can undermine trust in secure communications, digital identity verification, and data protection in affected systems. Since opencryptoki is often deployed in enterprise and government environments, the impact could extend to critical infrastructure, secure communications, and sensitive data repositories worldwide. Although the attack complexity is high and no exploits are currently known, the vulnerability poses a latent risk that could be exploited by well-resourced adversaries, including nation-state actors. The lack of impact on integrity and availability limits the scope to confidentiality breaches, but these can have severe downstream consequences such as data leaks or unauthorized access.

Summary

CVE-2024-0914 identifies a timing side-channel vulnerability in the opencryptoki cryptographic library, specifically in version 3.0.0, during the processing of RSA ciphertexts padded with PKCS#1 v1.5. The vulnerability arises because the time taken to process certain ciphertexts varies in a way that leaks information about the plaintext or the private key operations. An attacker can exploit this timing discrepancy to perform unauthorized decryption or signature forgery without possessing the private key, undermining the confidentiality guarantees of RSA operations. The attack complexity is high, as it requires precise timing measurements and repeated ciphertext submissions, but no privileges or user interaction are needed. The vulnerability does not affect the integrity or availability of the system but compromises confidentiality. Opencryptoki is widely used in environments requiring hardware security module (HSM) support and cryptographic token interfaces, including enterprise and government systems. Although no public exploits are known, the flaw represents a significant cryptographic risk. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N) reflects network attack vector, high complexity, no privileges or user interaction, unchanged scope, and high confidentiality impact. Mitigation requires patching the vulnerable library, employing constant-time cryptographic algorithms, and avoiding the use of RSA PKCS#1 v1.5 padding where possible, favoring more secure padding schemes like RSA-PSS.

References

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