Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-49092

Rustcrypto Rsa

Published
28 November 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.9
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0061 46th percentile
Risk Priority 48 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-49092 is a medium-severity Covert Timing Channel (CWE-385) vulnerability in Rustcrypto Rsa. Its CVSS base score is 5.9 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked at the 46th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

RustCrypto/RSA is a portable RSA implementation in pure Rust. Due to a non-constant-time implementation, information about the private key is leaked through timing information which is observable over the network. An attacker may be able to use that information to…

more

recover the key. There is currently no fix available. As a workaround, avoid using the RSA crate in settings where attackers are able to observe timing information, e.g. local use on a non-compromised computer.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control
Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.
T1087 Account Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of valid accounts, usernames, or email addresses on a system or within a compromised environment.
T1110 Brute Force Credential Access
Adversaries may use brute force techniques to gain access to accounts when passwords are unknown or when password hashes are obtained.
T1595 Active Scanning Reconnaissance
Adversaries may execute active reconnaissance scans to gather information that can be used during targeting.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-21895Same product: Rustcrypto Rsa
CVE-2026-23519Same vendor: Rustcrypto
CVE-2023-3640Shared CWE-203, CWE-385
CVE-2024-23170Shared CWE-203, CWE-385
CVE-2026-22698Same vendor: Rustcrypto
CVE-2026-22700Same vendor: Rustcrypto
CVE-2026-22699Same vendor: Rustcrypto
CVE-2024-45089Shared CWE-203
CVE-2024-0564Shared CWE-203
CVE-2025-27667Shared CWE-203

Affected Assets

rustcrypto
rsa
all versions

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 1 hardening rule · 1 OS baseline
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-385 CWE-203

Directly targets covert timing channels by requiring identification and bandwidth estimation, enabling mitigation that reduces or eliminates their usability.

addresses: CWE-203

Misdirection can normalize or falsify responses to eliminate observable discrepancies that aid reconnaissance.

addresses: CWE-203

Prevents attackers from using observable differences in error responses to infer internal system details or state.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure development practices (reviews, testing) directly reduce introduction of timing-channel vulnerabilities in code.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of hardware/software behavior can detect anomalous timing patterns that indicate covert channels.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can surface timing-channel weaknesses during design or code analysis.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
degrades

Detailed logging can reveal timing anomalies but does not prevent covert timing channels.

finds

Continuous monitoring may detect timing-based exfiltration but does not eliminate the channel itself.

mitigates

Network segmentation reduces attack surface but does not address intra-process timing channels.

mitigates

Network segregation limits external timing observation but not internal covert timing.

prevents

Secure architecture principles can include timing-channel countermeasures but are not specific.

prevents

Secure coding guidelines may recommend constant-time algorithms but coverage is not guaranteed.

References