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BotanApplication · Botan Project

CVE-2016-6878

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-04-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.11.30 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The Curve25519 code in botan before 1.11.31, on systems without a native 128-bit integer type, might allow attackers to have unspecified impact via vectors related to undefined behavior, as demonstrated on 32-bit ARM systems compiled by Clang.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The Curve25519 elliptic curve implementation in botan library versions before 1.11.31 contains undefined behavior on systems lacking native 128-bit integer support, specifically impacting 32-bit ARM systems compiled with Clang. This undefined behavior could allow attackers to manipulate cryptographic operations, potentially compromising the confidentiality and integrity of encrypted communications.

MitigationUpgrade botan library to version 1.11.31 or later which contains the corrected Curve25519 implementation with proper handling of systems without native 128-bit integer types.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
BotanApplication
Affected:<= 1.11.30

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed botan library version
    Run 'botan version' or check the library file version metadata. If using a package manager, query the installed package version.
    Affected if The installed version is 1.11.30 or lower
  2. Identify the system architecture
    Run 'uname -m' or check /proc/cpuinfo to determine if the system is 32-bit ARM (armv7l or similar).
    Affected if The system is a 32-bit ARM architecture (armv7l or armhf)
  3. Verify the compiler used for botan
    Check the botan build configuration or compile-time metadata. Look for Clang compilation flags or check build logs for the compiler identification.
    Affected if Botan was compiled with Clang (not GCC or other compilers)
  4. Confirm Curve25519 is enabled
    Check if the botan build includes the Curve25519 module. Run 'botan --list-modules' or inspect the enabled ALGORITHMS in the botan configuration.
    Affected if The Curve25519 algorithm module is loaded or enabled in the botan configuration
  5. Check for native 128-bit integer support
    Inspect the CPU capabilities or compiler-builtin checks. On ARM32, verify whether the target hardware lacks ARMv8 or NEON extensions that provide 128-bit integer operations.
    Affected if The system lacks native 128-bit integer type support (common on 32-bit ARM without specific extensions)

The environment is affected if botan version is 1.11.30 or lower, running on 32-bit ARM, compiled with Clang, with Curve25519 enabled, on a system lacking native 128-bit integer support.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 1.11.30
Interim mitigation

Upgrade botan library to version 1.11.31 or later which contains the corrected Curve25519 implementation with proper handling of systems without native 128-bit integer types.

Recommended fix High confidence

Botan 1.11.31 or later (recommended: latest stable 1.11.x or 2.x branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current Botan library version in your project by checking your dependency files (e.g., package.json, requirements.txt, or your build system configuration)
  2. 2. Update your dependency to specify Botan >= 1.11.31
  3. 3. Run your package manager update command (e.g., pip install -U botan-python, or rebuild from source)
  4. 4. Rebuild and test your application to ensure the upgrade does not introduce regressions
  5. 5. Verify the new version is correctly installed by checking the Botan version at runtime
Caveat Upgrade within the 1.11.x series should be low-risk; if moving to 2.x, review the migration guide for API changes

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Botan Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,440
Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-6878 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data