GHSA-2GQC-6J2Q-83QP

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-01-15 18:17 – Updated: 2026-01-23 21:46
VLAI?
Summary
RustCrypto Utilities cmov: `thumbv6m-none-eabi` compiler emits non-constant time assembly when using `cmovnz`
Details

Summary

thumbv6m-none-eabi (Cortex M0, M0+ and M1) compiler emits non-constant time assembly when using cmovnz (portable version). I did not found any other target with the same behaviour but I did not go through all targets supported by Rust.

Details

It seems that, during mask computation, an LLVM optimisation pass is detecting that bitnz is returning 0 or 1, that can be interpreted as a boolean. This intermediate value is not masked by a call to black_box and thus the subsequent .wrapping_sub(1) can be interpreted as a conditional bitwise conditional not.

PoC

This is an attempt at having a minimal faulty code. In a library crate with an up-to-date cmov as only dependency, the content of src/lib.rs is:

#![no_std]
use cmov::Cmov;

#[inline(never)]
pub fn test_ct_cmov(a: &mut u8, b: u8, c: u8) {
    a.cmovnz(&b, c);
}

The resulting assembly emitted (shown using cargo asm --release --target thumbv6m-none-eabi that uses cargo-show-asm):

Collapsed assembly 
.section .text.not_ct::test_ct_cmov,"ax",%progbits
    .globl  not_ct::test_ct_cmov
    .p2align    1
    .type   not_ct::test_ct_cmov,%function
    .code   16
    .thumb_func
not_ct::test_ct_cmov:
    .fnstart
    .cfi_sections .debug_frame
    .cfi_startproc
    .save   {r7, lr}
    push {r7, lr}
    .cfi_def_cfa_offset 8
    .cfi_offset lr, -4
    .cfi_offset r7, -8
    .setfp  r7, sp
    add r7, sp, #0
    .cfi_def_cfa_register r7
    .pad    #8
    sub sp, #8
    movs r3, #0
    lsls r2, r2, #24
    bne .LBB0_2
    mvns r3, r3
.LBB0_2:
    ldrb r2, [r0]
    str r3, [sp, #4]
    str r3, [sp]
    mov r3, sp
    @APP
    @NO_APP
    ldr r3, [sp]
    bics r1, r3
    ands r2, r3
    adds r1, r2, r1
    strb r1, [r0]
    add sp, #8
    pop {r7, pc}

The non-constant time assembly is:

    bne  .LBB0_2
    mvns r3, r3
.LBB0_2:

Impact

The exact impact is unclear, especially since cmov clearly warns users that the portable version is best-effort.

Severity ?
8.9 (High)
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N
Show details on source website
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{
  "affected": [
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "crates.io",
        "name": "cmov"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "0.4.4"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-23519"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-203",
      "CWE-208"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": true,
    "github_reviewed_at": "2026-01-15T18:17:15Z",
    "nvd_published_at": "2026-01-15T20:16:05Z",
    "severity": "HIGH"
  },
  "details": "### Summary\n\n`thumbv6m-none-eabi` (Cortex M0, M0+ and M1) compiler emits non-constant time assembly when using `cmovnz` (portable version). I did not found any other target with the same behaviour but I did not go through all targets supported by Rust. \n\n### Details\n\nIt seems that, [during `mask` computation](https://github.com/RustCrypto/utils/blob/9e555db060c80f4669d804f448a524a37d201b32/cmov/src/portable.rs#L78), an LLVM optimisation pass is detecting that [`bitnz`](https://github.com/RustCrypto/utils/blob/9e555db060c80f4669d804f448a524a37d201b32/cmov/src/portable.rs#L13) is returning 0 or 1, that can be interpreted as a boolean. This intermediate value is not masked by a call to `black_box` and thus the subsequent [`.wrapping_sub(1)`](https://github.com/RustCrypto/utils/blob/9e555db060c80f4669d804f448a524a37d201b32/cmov/src/portable.rs#L78C1-L78C84) can be interpreted as a conditional bitwise conditional not.\n\n### PoC\n\nThis is an attempt at having a minimal faulty code. In a library crate with an up-to-date `cmov` as only dependency, the content of `src/lib.rs` is:\n\n```rust\n#![no_std]\nuse cmov::Cmov;\n\n#[inline(never)]\npub fn test_ct_cmov(a: \u0026mut u8, b: u8, c: u8) {\n    a.cmovnz(\u0026b, c);\n}\n```\n\n\nThe resulting assembly emitted (shown using `cargo asm --release --target thumbv6m-none-eabi` that uses [`cargo-show-asm`](https://crates.io/crates/cargo-show-asm)):\n\n\u003cdetails\u003e\n\u003csummary\u003eCollapsed assembly\u003c/summary\u003e\n\n```asm\n.section .text.not_ct::test_ct_cmov,\"ax\",%progbits\n\t.globl\tnot_ct::test_ct_cmov\n\t.p2align\t1\n\t.type\tnot_ct::test_ct_cmov,%function\n\t.code\t16\n\t.thumb_func\nnot_ct::test_ct_cmov:\n\t.fnstart\n\t.cfi_sections .debug_frame\n\t.cfi_startproc\n\t.save\t{r7, lr}\n\tpush {r7, lr}\n\t.cfi_def_cfa_offset 8\n\t.cfi_offset lr, -4\n\t.cfi_offset r7, -8\n\t.setfp\tr7, sp\n\tadd r7, sp, #0\n\t.cfi_def_cfa_register r7\n\t.pad\t#8\n\tsub sp, #8\n\tmovs r3, #0\n\tlsls r2, r2, #24\n\tbne .LBB0_2\n\tmvns r3, r3\n.LBB0_2:\n\tldrb r2, [r0]\n\tstr r3, [sp, #4]\n\tstr r3, [sp]\n\tmov r3, sp\n\t@APP\n\t@NO_APP\n\tldr r3, [sp]\n\tbics r1, r3\n\tands r2, r3\n\tadds r1, r2, r1\n\tstrb r1, [r0]\n\tadd sp, #8\n\tpop {r7, pc}\n```\n\n\u003c/details\u003e\n\nThe non-constant time assembly is:\n\n```asm\n    bne  .LBB0_2\n    mvns r3, r3\n.LBB0_2:\n```\n\n### Impact\n\nThe exact impact is unclear, especially since `cmov` clearly warns users that the portable version is best-effort.",
  "id": "GHSA-2gqc-6j2q-83qp",
  "modified": "2026-01-23T21:46:10Z",
  "published": "2026-01-15T18:17:15Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/RustCrypto/utils/security/advisories/GHSA-2gqc-6j2q-83qp"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23519"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/RustCrypto/utils/commit/55977257e7c82a309d5e8abfdd380a774f0f9778"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/RustCrypto/utils"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2026-0003.html"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V4"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "RustCrypto Utilities cmov: `thumbv6m-none-eabi` compiler emits non-constant time assembly when using `cmovnz`"
}


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