Vulnerability in Bitcoinj

CVE-2026-44714

The bitcoinj library is a Java implementation of the Bitcoin protocol. Prior to 0.17.1, ScriptExecution.correctlySpends() contains two fast-path verification bugs for standard P2PKH and native P2WPKH spends in core/src/main/java/org/bitcoinj/script/ScriptExecution.java. In both branches, bitcoinj verifies an attacker-controlled signature/public-key pair but fails to verify that the public key is the one committed to by the output being spent. As a result, any attacker keypair can satisfy bitcoinj's local verification for arbitrary P2PKH and P2WPKH outputs. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.17.1.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.003 (25.9th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 26th percentile — 25.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-44714: held from 0.003 to 0.003.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.003 · newest: 0.003 · change: +0.001

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-44714?
CVE-2026-44714 is a high-severity vulnerability in Bitcoinj, classified under Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2026-05-15.
How severe is CVE-2026-44714?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.