Vulnerability · Published Oct 4, 2023 · Assigned by GitHub_M
CVE-2023-42448Hydra's contestation period in head datum can be modified during Close transaction, allowing malicious participant to freely modify the contestation deadline
High 8.1
In plain English
A high-severity improper input validation in hydra from input-output-hk. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 1.0% (higher than 62% of all known vulnerabilities).
Official description
Hydra is the layer-two scalability solution for Cardano. Prior to version 0.13.0, the specification states that the contestation period in the datum of the UTxO at the head validator must stay unchanged as the state progresses from Open to Closed (Close transaction), but no such check appears to be performed in the `checkClose` function of the head validator. This would allow a malicious participant to modify the contestation deadline of the head to either allow them to fanout the head without giving another participant the chance to contest, or prevent any participant from ever redistributing the funds locked in the head via a fan-out. Version 0.13.0 contains a patch for this issue.
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| input-output-hk | hydra | < 0.13.0 |
Weakness: CWE-20 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
References
- https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/security/advisories/GHSA-mgcx-6p7h-5996 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/commit/2f45529729e28254a62f7a7c8d6649066923ed1f x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md#0130---2023-10-03 x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/blob/master/hydra-plutus/src/Hydra/Contract/Head.hs#L284-L296 x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/blob/master/hydra-plutus/src/Hydra/Contract/Head.hs#L320-L323 x_refsource_MISC