# CVE-2020-13822: Signature Malleabillity in elliptic

> The Elliptic library allows ECDSA signature malleability via encoding variations or integer overflows, impacting applications relying on canonical signatures.

- **Severity:** High 7.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 4 Jun 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** CLSA-2026-1792163848, DEBIAN-CVE-2020-13822, GHSA-vh7m-p724-62c2, ROOT-APP-NPM-CVE-2020-13822, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-13822

## What is CVE-2020-13822?

CVE-2020-13822 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 4 Jun 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Elliptic package 6.5.2 for Node.js allows ECDSA signature malleability via variations in encoding, leading '\0' bytes, or integer overflows. This could conceivably have a security-relevant impact if an application relied on a single canonical signature.

Weakness: CWE-190 (Integer Overflow or Wraparound)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-13822?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including elliptic. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `elliptic` | npm | All versions | 6.5.3 |
| `elliptic` | npm | All versions | 6.5.3 |

Products: Indutny Elliptic.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-13822?

Upgrade elliptic to 6.5.3 or later.

## Is CVE-2020-13822 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-13822 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2024-48949](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-48949/): Elliptic's verify function omits uniqueness validation (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2020-28498](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-28498/): Cryptographic Issues (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2024-42459](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42459/): Elliptic's EDDSA missing signature length check (medium 5.3)
- [CVE-2024-42460](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42460/): Elliptic's ECDSA missing check for whether leading bit of r and s is zero (medium 5.3)
- [CVE-2024-48948](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-48948/): Valid ECDSA signatures erroneously rejected in Elliptic (medium 4.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-13822 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-13822 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 4 Jun 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-13822 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- elliptic (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 6.5.3
- elliptic (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 6.5.3

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-13822/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-13822/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-13822
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-13822
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-13822

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-13822/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.