# CVE-2026-53939

## Summary

- **CVE ID:** CVE-2026-53939
- **Severity:** CRITICAL
- **CVSS Score:** 9.1 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N)
- **CWE:** CWE-321, CWE-330
- **Published:** Sep 8, 2026
- **Last Modified:** Sep 9, 2026

## Description

OpenIDC/cjose is a C library implementing the Javascript Object Signing and Encryption (JOSE). In versions 0.6.1 through 0.6.2.5, when cjose encrypts a JWE using an AES-CBC-HMAC content-encryption algorithm (`A128CBC-HS256`, `A192CBC-HS384`, or `A256CBC-HS512`) together with any key-management algorithm that generates a fresh content-encryption key (CEK), the CEK is all zero bytes instead of being randomly generated. The resulting JWE is therefore encrypted and authenticated under a fixed, publicly known key, so anyone who obtains the JWE can recover the plaintext and forge or modify the content. This is fixed in version 0.6.2.6 by `_cjose_jwe_set_cek_aes_cbc()` generating the CEK from `RAND_bytes`. A regression test asserts that the `encrypted_key` differs across two encryptions for each AES-CBC-HMAC variant. Until upgrading, for data encrypted with cjose, three options are available. Use an AES-GCM `enc` (`A128GCM` / `A192GCM` / `A256GCM`) instead of an AES-CBC-HMAC `enc`,  use `alg=dir` with a caller-supplied CEK, or avoid using cjose for JWE encryption with the affected algorithm pair. These are mitigations for new ciphertexts only; data already encrypted under the zero key remains compromised and should be re-encrypted (and any secrets it contained rotated).

## Affected Products

- OpenIDC — cjose (>= 0.6.1, < 0.6.2.6)

## References

- [CNA](https://github.com/OpenIDC/cjose/security/advisories/GHSA-f6wf-pqg3-6wqq)
- [CNA](https://github.com/OpenIDC/cjose/commit/2a6e5bd969fa20059fb00913fb9f57d77ea6a4d9)
- [CNA](https://github.com/OpenIDC/cjose/releases/tag/v0.6.2.6)

## Exploitation Prediction (EPSS)

- **EPSS Score:** 0.20%
- **EPSS Percentile:** 9.5

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_Exported from OnDuty AI Vulnerability Intelligence on 2026-09-10._