Elliptic Curve Key Disclosure in go-jose

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

9.1 · CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

EPSS

• CVE-2016-9121: 1.41% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 72.71 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

go-jose before 1.0.4 suffers from an invalid curve attack for the ECDH-ES algorithm. When deriving a shared key using ECDH-ES for an encrypted message, go-jose neglected to check that the received public key on a message is on the same curve as the static private key of the receiver, thus making it vulnerable to an invalid curve attack.

Published by the source

23 Jun 2021, 17:17 UTC

Last modified by the source

16 Feb 2023, 02:04 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 14:55 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-86r9-39j9-99wp

Preview the exact text before you copy it. Commands are read-only suggestions; review them before running anything.

# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2016-9121

Advisory: Elliptic Curve Key Disclosure in go-jose
IDs: CVE-2016-9121, GHSA-86r9-39j9-99wp
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2016-9121 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 14:55 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.1)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: gopkg.in/square/go-jose.v1 1.0.4; github.com/square/go-jose 1.0.4. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go gopkg.in/square/go-jose.v1: affected < 1.0.4; fixed in 1.0.4
- Go github.com/square/go-jose: affected < 1.0.4; fixed in 1.0.4

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go gopkg.in/square/go-jose.v1: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/square/go-jose: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on gopkg.in/square/go-jose.v1, github.com/square/go-jose.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-86r9-39j9-99wp (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-86r9-39j9-99wp lists affected ranges: Go gopkg.in/square/go-jose.v1 >=0 =0 <1.0.4)

Commands are suggestions: review each one before running it.