CVE-2025-9231

Technical Description

Issue summary: A timing side-channel which could potentially allow remote

recovery of the private key exists in the SM2 algorithm implementation on 64 bit

ARM platforms.

Impact summary: A timing side-channel in SM2 signature computations on 64 bit

ARM platforms could allow recovering the private key by an attacker..

While remote key recovery over a network was not attempted by the reporter,

timing measurements revealed a timing signal which may allow such an attack.

OpenSSL does not directly support certificates with SM2 keys in TLS, and so

this CVE is not relevant in most TLS contexts. However, given that it is

possible to add support for such certificates via a custom provider, coupled

with the fact that in such a custom provider context the private key may be

recoverable via remote timing measurements, we consider this to be a Moderate

severity issue.

The FIPS modules in 3.5, 3.4, 3.3, 3.2, 3.1 and 3.0 are not affected by this

issue, as SM2 is not an approved algorithm.

Remediation

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

References