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Uncontrolled Resource ConsumptionWeakness · CWE-400

CVE-2025-12194

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v4.0 Published 2025-10-24
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
64/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. Bouncy Castle for Java FIPS bc-fips on All (API modules), Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. Bouncy Castle for Java LTS bcprov-lts8on on All (API modules) allows Excessive Allocation. This vulnerability is associated with program files core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/fips/AESNativeCFB.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/fips/AESNativeGCM.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/fips/SHA256NativeDigest.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/fips/AESNativeEngine.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/fips/AESNativeCBC.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/fips/AESNativeCTR.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/engines/AESNativeCFB.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/engines/AESNativeGCM.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/engines/AESNativeEngine.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/engines/AESNativeCBC.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/engines/AESNativeGCMSIV.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/engines/AESNativeCCM.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/engines/AESNativeCTR.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/digests/SHA256NativeDigest.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/digests/SHA224NativeDigest.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/digests/SHA3NativeDigest.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/digests/SHAKENativeDigest.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/digests/SHA512NativeDigest.Java, core/src/main/jdk1.9/org/bouncycastle/crypto/digests/SHA384NativeDigest.Java. This issue affects Bouncy Castle for Java FIPS: from 2.1.0 through 2.1.1; Bouncy Castle for Java LTS: from 2.73.0 through 2.73.7.

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 · moderate confidence

This is an Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability (Excessive Allocation) in Bouncy Castle's native cryptographic implementations for Java. Multiple AES native engine files (CFB, GCM, CBC, CTR, CCM, SIV modes) and SHA digest native implementations (SHA256, SHA224, SHA384, SHA512, SHA3, SHAKE) lack proper bounds checking on memory allocation, potentially allowing attackers to cause excessive memory consumption by providing specially crafted inputs.

MitigationUpdate Bouncy Castle FIPS to version 2.1.2 or later, and Bouncy Castle LTS to version 2.73.8 or later. Alternatively, implement application-layer input validation and resource limits on cryptographic operations using these native implementations.

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

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
Authentication
None
User interaction
None
Scope
P

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:P/AU:N/R:U/V:C/RE:M/U:Amber

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. Locate Bouncy Castle libraries in your environment
    Search for JAR files containing 'bouncycastle' in the filename, or check your dependency management system (Maven pom.xml, Gradle build.gradle, or similar) for the org.bouncycastle group ID
    Affected if Bouncy Castle libraries are present in your application or runtime classpath
  2. Determine the installed Bouncy Castle version
    Check the MANIFEST.MF file inside the bouncycastle JAR for the 'Implementation-Version' attribute, or look at your dependency manager's resolved version for org.bouncycastle:bcprov or org.bouncycastle:bcfips
    Affected if The version is earlier than 2.73.8 for the main library or earlier than 2.1.2 for the FIPS library
  3. Identify if native cryptographic implementations are in use
    Search your codebase for imports or references to native engine classes such as: org.bouncycastle.crypto.engines.AESNativeEngine, org.bouncycastle.crypto.engines.AESNativeCFBModeEngine, org.bouncycastle.crypto.engines.AESNativeGCMEngine, org.bouncycastle.crypto.digests.SHA256NativeDigest (or similar 'Native' suffix classes for SHA224, SHA384, SHA512, SHA3, SHAKE)
    Affected if Your application explicitly instantiates or invokes any 'Native' prefixed engine or digest classes for AES modes or SHA-family hashes
  4. Check for configuration enabling native providers
    Look for code that registers the Bouncy Castle native provider, typically via Security.addProvider(new org.bouncycastle.jcajce.provider.BouncyCastleJsseProvider()) or similar provider registration, or check java.security for 'bc' provider configuration
    Affected if The Bouncy Castle native provider is registered and set as preferred for cryptographic operations
  5. Verify runtime dependency on native libraries
    Check for presence of platform-specific native libraries (DLL on Windows, SO on Linux, DYLIB on macOS) that accompany Bouncy Castle, typically named libbc*.so or bc*.dll in the library path
    Affected if Native library files are loaded at runtime by the Bouncy Castle library

You are affected if you have Bouncy Castle versions earlier than 2.73.8 (or earlier than 2.1.2 for FIPS) AND your application uses the native AES engine or SHA digest implementations rather than the pure Java implementations.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update Bouncy Castle FIPS to version 2.1.2 or later, and Bouncy Castle LTS to version 2.73.8 or later. Alternatively, implement application-layer input validation and resource limits on cryptographic operations using these native implementations.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
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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-2025-12194 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
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