Intel

AIKIDO-2026-26118

@noble/curves is vulnerable to Observable Timing Discrepancy

Observable Timing Discrepancy Pre-CVE
Found by Aikido Intel before public disclosure or CVE publication.
Published Aug 10, 2026

37

Low Risk

This Affects:

JS@noble/curves
0.2.0 - 2.2.0
Fixed in 2.3.0
Are you affected? Scan for Free

TL;DR

The X25519 key-agreement code performs scalar multiplication and modular arithmetic whose execution time varies with secret key material. Remote timing measurement across many samples can observe this variation and recover a few bits of a long-term private key, primarily enabling fingerprinting of a key across deployments rather than full key recovery. The Montgomery ladder and un-precomputed point multiplication previously fell back to variable-time code paths and best-effort constant-time helpers. The fix adds secret-scalar blinding via a CSPRNG, uses a constant-time fixed-window multiply, and hardens the modular arithmetic helpers.

Who does this affect?

You are affected if you are using a version that falls within the vulnerable range and you perform X25519 key agreement using a long-term private key whose operation timing is observable to an external party.

Background info

@noble/curves is vulnerable to Observable Timing Discrepancy in versions 0.2.0 - 2.2.0.

How to fix this

Upgrade the @noble/curves library to the patch version.

Are You Affected?

Connect your repositories to instantly see whether vulnerable or malicious packages exist in your codebase.

Free. No credit card required.

Aikido Platform