nimiq-consensus panics via RequestMacroChain micro-block locatorGHSA-48m6-486p-9j8p
MEDIUMFix: nimiq/core-rs-albatross#3660GHSA-48m6-486p-9j8p is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.3) Reachable Assertion vulnerability in nimiq-consensus. The records list no fixed version yet; check the vendor advisory below and apply the mitigations in the meantime.
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-48m6-486p-9j8p.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
nimiq-consensusReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects crates.io packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
An unauthenticated p2p peer can cause the RequestMacroChain message handler task to panic by sending a RequestMacroChain message where the first locator hash that is on the victim’s main chain is a micro block hash (not a macro block hash).
In RequestMacroChain::handle, the handler selects the locator based only on "is on main chain", then calls get_macro_blocks() and panics via .unwrap() when the selected hash is not a macro block (BlockchainError::BlockIsNotMacro).
Patches
The patch for this vulnerability](https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross/pull/3660) is formally released as part of v1.3.0.
Workarounds
No known workarounds.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | nimiq-consensus | all versions | No fix |
Affected Products
nimiq proof-of-stakenimiqDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for nimiq-consensus, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
The records we use list no patched version of nimiq-consensus for GHSA-48m6-486p-9j8p. Check the maintainer's advisory, and where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range.
Mitigate without a patch
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-48m6-486p-9j8p in your dependencies?
Find it across crates.io, including transitive dependencies.