What is CVE-2026-18036?

CVE-2026-18036 is NTRU leaks private key information by reducing secret values with a non-constant-time integer division. The supplied enrichment data classifies it as Unclassified mapped to CWE-208 CWE-208.

Which versions are affected?

Affected product and version evidence is listed in the product table above. Current public advisories should be checked for exact version scope before patch targeting is finalized.

Is there active exploitation?

Active exploitation is not confirmed from current sources for CVE-2026-18036. If exploitation is not confirmed from current sources, teams should document that status and continue monitoring KEV, vendor, and telemetry updates.

No. CVE-2026-18036 is not listed in CISA KEV in the supplied enrichment data. KEV status should be monitored because it can change after initial disclosure or after exploitation becomes publicly confirmed.

Is there a public exploit?

2 public PoC repositories reported; 0 marked weaponized in current dataset. Public exploit or PoC availability should raise triage priority, especially for exposed or business-critical systems.

How can defenders detect it?

Start with web/proxy/WAF logs, application logs, network IDS/IPS where available. Look for vulnerability-class behavior, product errors, suspicious authentication events, exploit probes, and abnormal process activity based only on evidence that applies to the affected product.

How should teams prioritize it?

Prioritize CVE-2026-18036 using CVSS 8.2, EPSS 0%, KEV status, public PoC status, and asset exposure. Internet-facing, privileged, or business-critical deployments should be handled first.

Are workarounds available?

The supplied mitigation guidance says to apply vendor patches and restrict external exposure until fixed. Fixed-version evidence is listed in the mitigation section above.

Which threat actors are linked publicly?

No public threat actor linkage is confirmed from current sources. Do not attribute exploitation to a threat actor unless the source evidence explicitly supports that linkage.

What should be done in the next 24 hours?

Identify exposed assets running affected vendor/product/version combinations. Prioritize based on EPSS, PoC availability, and external exposure. Search available logs for exploit probes, errors, authentication anomalies, or suspicious child processes matching the vulnerability class. Open remediation tickets with affected assets, owners, evidence status, and detection coverage so decisions are traceable.

highpublic exploit

CVE-2026-18036

CVE-2026-18036 — NTRU leaks private key information by reducing secret values with a non-constant-time integer division

In Bouncy Castle for Java before 1.86, NTRU reduced secret values with the % operator in three helpers whose reference implementations are deliberately division-free, so each reduction was carried out by an integer division whose latency depends on the secret operand. Polynomial.modQ divided by a variable divisor, which a compiler cannot strength-reduce to a multiply the way it can a constant one, so it emitted a division on every call including on the decapsulation path where the dividend derives from the private key; Polynomial.mod3 and NTRUSampling.mod3 divided the secret key polynomials f and g during key generation, the message polynomials r and m during encapsulation, and coefficients recovered during decapsulation. An attacker able to measure that timing can recover information about the NTRU private key. modQ now masks, which is exact because q is always a power of two, and mod3 uses the reference implementation's division-free fold and select; the results are unchanged.

Published Oct 2, 2026Updated Oct 2, 2026Sources: NVD, Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. (CNA), GitHub, GitHub Security Advisory, SOCRadar CTI

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the scoring sources call it.

Exploitation

Exploit code

public exploit, none observed

EPSS

ahead of 0% of scored CVEs

Affects

Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc.

BC-JAVA

CVSS base

8.2

high

Remediation

The vendor's own words where we have them.

Upgrade BC-JAVA to a fixed release. Apply vendor patches per advisory and restrict external exposure of the affected component until patched.

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record's own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found.

Identify exposed assets running affected vendor/product/version combinations.
Prioritize based on EPSS, PoC availability, and external exposure.
Search available logs for exploit probes, errors, authentication anomalies, or suspicious child processes matching the vulnerability class.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and version as the advisories word them.

Vendor	Product	Versions	Status
Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc.	BC-JAVA	1.73 to < 1.86	Vulnerable

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Scope

Attack Complexity

High

Attack Vector

Network

Privileges Req

None

User Interaction

None

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

Score	Version	Severity	Expl.	Impact	Source
8.2	CVSS 4.0	high	—	—	Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc. (CNA)

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/U:Amber

What this weakness leads to

MITRE's own consequences and mitigations for the weakness class — the authority's wording, not guidance derived from the CVSS vector.

MITRE

CWE-208 · Observable Timing Discrepancy

Read Application Data
Bypass Protection Mechanism::

Weakness & attack patterns

CWE-208

Attack patterns reported against this CVE. The ATT&CK techniques below are inferred from its weakness class.

CAPEC-462 · Cross-Domain Search Timing

T1592.002Gather Victim Host Information: Software
T1082System Information Discovery

Public exploit

Capability, not use: code existing is a different claim from anyone running it.

Repositories

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not rules we have tested.

Prioritize edge telemetry for network-reachable BC-JAVA.
Monitor for scanner or exploit-pattern traffic after 2 public PoC repositories were reported.

web/proxy/WAF logsapplication logsnetwork IDS/IPS

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first — with the readings a source repeats on a schedule counted underneath rather than listed.

2026
Added · CVSS 3.1 8.2 (AV:N)
Oct 2, 2026 · NVD
Initial · CVE published
Oct 2, 2026 · NVD
Added · GHSA-frjj-v5w4-68pc published (high)
Oct 2, 2026 · GitHub Security Advisory
CVE published by MITRE.
Oct 2, 2026 · SOCRadar CTI

Source activity

Readings a source repeats on a schedule, counted rather than listed.

1×2 times mentioned on 1 Telegram channelsOct 2, 2026 · SOCRadar CTI

References

4 on the record

github.com/bcgit/bc-java/commit/9c9ad88b6003bb6230d2434bd892cc1e95b294e4
Exploit, Third Party Advisory, NIST
github.com/bcgit/bc-java/wiki/CVE%E2%80%902026%E2%80%9018036
Exploit, Third Party Advisory, NIST
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-18036
NVD
github.com/advisories/GHSA-frjj-v5w4-68pc
Exploit, Third Party Advisory

Elsewhere on this site

Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc.every CVE for this vendor
Unclassifiedsame class
CWE-208other pages naming this weakness

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record1

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-18036 is NTRU leaks private key information by reducing secret values with a non-constant-time integer division, a high vulnerability affecting BC-JAVA from Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc.. The current evidence does not list it in CISA KEV, and the exploit status is: Active exploitation is not confirmed from current sources for CVE-2026-18036. Public exploit evidence is: 2 public PoC repositories reported; 0 marked weaponized in current dataset. The affected-version evidence is listed in the key facts and affected products tables. Defenders should first verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run those versions, then apply vendor patches or mitigations, restrict reachable attack surface, and preserve logs for detection review. CVSS 8.2 describes technical severity, while EPSS 0% helps estimate near-term exploit likelihood; neither replaces asset context. Unknown fields should remain explicit in tickets, and threat actor, IOC, victimology, or payload claims should not be added unless a cited source supports them. Monitor CISA KEV, vendor advisories, NVD changes, public PoC repositories, and internal telemetry for update triggers.