ssh: enforce strict limits on DSA key parameters

The parseDSA function previously accepted DSA keys with arbitrary values
for the sub-prime Q and did not validate that group elements G and Y
were within the modulus P.

Malicious actors could provide a key with a massively large Q (e.g.,
millions of bits), leading to excessive CPU consumption during signature
verification.

This change restricts the sub-prime Q to exactly 160 bits, as required
by FIPS 186-2, and ensures that G and Y are strictly less than P.

This issue was found during a security audit by NCC Group Cryptography
Services, sponsored by Teleport.

Fixes golang/go#79565
Fixes CVE-2026-39829

Change-Id: I526118d94684076088d0625178844f64c1303ec8
Reviewed-on: https://go-review.googlesource.com/c/crypto/+/781661
Reviewed-by: Roland Shoemaker <roland@golang.org>
LUCI-TryBot-Result: golang-scoped@luci-project-accounts.iam.gserviceaccount.com <golang-scoped@luci-project-accounts.iam.gserviceaccount.com>
Reviewed-by: Neal Patel <nealpatel@google.com>

Author: drakkan

ssh/keys.go

@@ -580,6 +580,24 @@ func checkDSAParams(param *dsa.Parameters) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("ssh: unsupported DSA key size %d", l)
 	}
 
+	// FIPS 186-2 specifies that Q must be exactly 160 bits. We must enforce
+	// this to prevent DoS attacks where an attacker sends a huge Q which makes
+	// verification slow.
+	if l := param.Q.BitLen(); l != 160 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("ssh: unsupported DSA sub-prime size %d", l)
+	}
+
+	// The generator G is an element of the group, so it must be strictly less
+	// than the modulus P.
+	if param.G.Cmp(param.P) >= 0 {
+		return errors.New("ssh: DSA generator larger than modulus")
+	}
+
+	// G must be positive.
+	if param.G.Sign() <= 0 {
+		return errors.New("ssh: DSA generator must be positive")
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -602,6 +620,14 @@ func parseDSA(in []byte) (out PublicKey, rest []byte, err error) {
 		return nil, nil, err
 	}
 
+	// The public value Y must be a non-zero element of the group, i.e.
+	// strictly between 0 and P. crypto/dsa.Verify does not range-check Y,
+	// so we reject out-of-range values here to prevent a maliciously
+	// oversized Y from slowing verification.
+	if w.Y.Sign() <= 0 || w.Y.Cmp(w.P) >= 0 {
+		return nil, nil, errors.New("ssh: DSA public value Y out of range")
+	}
+
 	key := &dsaPublicKey{
 		Parameters: param,
 		Y:          w.Y,

ssh/keys_test.go

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"math/big"
 	"reflect"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
@@ -370,6 +371,72 @@ func TestMarshalParsePublicKey(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestParseDSAHugeQ(t *testing.T) {
+	P := new(big.Int).Lsh(big.NewInt(1), 1023)
+	Q := new(big.Int).Lsh(big.NewInt(1), 20000) // very large
+	// G and Y: Dummy values, just needs to be < P to pass that specific check
+	G := big.NewInt(2)
+	Y := big.NewInt(5)
+
+	rawKey := struct {
+		P, Q, G, Y *big.Int
+	}{
+		P: P,
+		Q: Q,
+		G: G,
+		Y: Y,
+	}
+
+	inputBytes := Marshal(&rawKey)
+
+	_, _, err := parseDSA(inputBytes)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("parseDSA accepted a DSA key with large Q")
+	}
+
+	expectedError := "ssh: unsupported DSA sub-prime size"
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), expectedError) {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error message: got %q, want substring %q", err.Error(), expectedError)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseDSAYOutOfRange(t *testing.T) {
+	// Valid 1024/160 parameters (values don't need to be a real DSA group,
+	// they only need to pass the checkDSAParams bit-length checks and the
+	// G < P / G > 0 checks).
+	P := new(big.Int).Lsh(big.NewInt(1), 1023)
+	P.SetBit(P, 0, 1) // make P odd so it can pass as a prime candidate shape
+	Q := new(big.Int).Lsh(big.NewInt(1), 159)
+	Q.SetBit(Q, 0, 1)
+	G := big.NewInt(2)
+
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		name string
+		Y    *big.Int
+	}{
+		{"Y_zero", big.NewInt(0)},
+		{"Y_negative", big.NewInt(-1)},
+		{"Y_equals_P", new(big.Int).Set(P)},
+		{"Y_greater_than_P", new(big.Int).Add(P, big.NewInt(1))},
+		{"Y_much_greater_than_P", new(big.Int).Lsh(big.NewInt(1), 20000)},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			rawKey := struct {
+				P, Q, G, Y *big.Int
+			}{P: P, Q: Q, G: G, Y: tc.Y}
+
+			_, _, err := parseDSA(Marshal(&rawKey))
+			if err == nil {
+				t.Fatalf("parseDSA accepted a DSA key with Y=%s (P=%s)", tc.Y, P)
+			}
+			expectedError := "DSA public value Y out of range"
+			if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), expectedError) {
+				t.Errorf("unexpected error message: got %q, want substring %q", err.Error(), expectedError)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestMarshalPrivateKey(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		name string