Timing Leak in Tink ChunkedMacVerification Tag Comparison
CVE-2026-15432 Published on July 21, 2026
Observable Timing Discrepancy in Tink-Java and Tink-Android ChunkedMacVerification
When verifying a mac with a ChunkedMacVerification object, Tink compares the resulting tag with non constant time comparison. This potentially allows an attacker to use timinig information as a side channel in order to get information how many bytes of a given tag match the correct tag. This in turn could allow to find a correct tag bytewise.
Weakness Type
Observable Timing Discrepancy
Two separate operations in a product require different amounts of time to complete, in a way that is observable to an actor and reveals security-relevant information about the state of the product, such as whether a particular operation was successful or not. In security-relevant contexts, even small variations in timing can be exploited by attackers to indirectly infer certain details about the product's internal operations. For example, in some cryptographic algorithms, attackers can use timing differences to infer certain properties about a private key, making the key easier to guess. Timing discrepancies effectively form a timing side channel.
Products Associated with CVE-2026-15432
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Affected Versions
Google Tink-Java:- Version All releases before 1.21.0, including 1.21.0. is affected.
- Version All releases before 1.21.0, including 1.21.0. is affected.