CVE-2026-44699 PUBLISHED

LibJWT: Algorithm confusion allows JWT forgery with RSA JWK as empty-key HMAC

Assigner: GitHub_M
Reserved: 07.05.2026 Published: 15.05.2026 Updated: 15.05.2026

LibJWT is a C JSON Web Token Library. From 3.0.0 to 3.3.2, libjwt accepts an RSA JWK that does not contain an alg parameter as the verification key for an HS256/HS384/HS512 token. In the OpenSSL backend, this causes HMAC verification to run with a zero-length key, so an attacker can forge a valid JWT without knowing any secret or RSA private key. This is an algorithm-confusion authentication bypass. It affects applications that load RSA keys from JWKS where alg is omitted, which is valid JWK syntax and common in real deployments, and then choose the verification algorithm from the JWT header, for example in a kid lookup callback. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.3.3.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CVSS Score: 9.1

Product Status

Vendor benmcollins
Product libjwt
Versions
  • Version >= 3.0.0, < 3.3.3 is affected

References

Problem Types

  • CWE-327: Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm CWE
  • CWE-347: Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature CWE