CVE-2026-44699

Critical

Description

LibJWT is a C JSON Web Token Library. From 3.0.0 to 3.3.2, libjwt accepts an RSA JWK that does not contain an alg parameter as the verification key for an HS256/HS384/HS512 token. In the OpenSSL backend, this causes HMAC verification to run with a zero-length key, so an attacker can forge a valid JWT without knowing any secret or RSA private key. This is an algorithm-confusion authentication bypass. It affects applications that load RSA keys from JWKS where alg is omitted, which is valid JWK syntax and common in real deployments, and then choose the verification algorithm from the JWT header, for example in a kid lookup callback. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.3.3.

SeverityCritical
CVSS9.1
Exploit probability—
ProductBenmcollins Libjwt
PublishedMay 15, 2026
First seenMay 15, 2026

How to fix

Sources list no fixed version or patch link for this vulnerability.

Affected products

ProductAffected versionsFixed in
benmcollins libjwt>= 3.0.0, < 3.3.3—

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