CometBFT is unstability during blocksync when syncing from malicious peerGHSA-hg58-rf2h-6rr7
Fix: cometbft/cometbft@07866e1GHSA-hg58-rf2h-6rr7 is a security vulnerability in github.com/cometbft/cometbft. A fix is available for github.com/cometbft/cometbft — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Real-World Exposure
github.com/cometbft/cometbft🐹github.com/cometbft/cometbftReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Name: ASA-2024-008: Instability during blocksync when syncing from malicious peer Component: CometBFT Criticality: Medium (ACMv1: I:Moderate; L: Possible) Affected versions: < v0.38.7
Summary
An issue was identified for nodes syncing on an existing network during blocksync in which a malicious peer could cause the syncing peer to panic, enter into a catastrophic invalid syncing state or get stuck in blocksync mode, never switching to consensus. It is recommended for all clients to adopt this patch so that blocksync functions as expected and is tolerant of malicious peers presenting invalid data in this situation. Nodes that are vulnerable to this state may experience a Denial of Service condition in which syncing will not work as expected when joining a network as a client.
Recognition
This issue was reported to the Cosmos Bug Bounty Program on HackerOne on 5/01/24 by unknown_feature. If you believe you have found a bug in the Interchain Stack or would like to contribute to the program by reporting a bug, please see https://hackerone.com/cosmos.
If you have questions about Interchain security efforts, please reach out to our official communication channel at [email protected].
For more information about CometBFT, please see https://docs.cometbft.com/.
For more information about the Interchain Foundation’s engagement with Amulet, please see https://github.com/interchainio/security.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/cometbft/cometbft | ≥ 0.37.0&&< 0.37.7 | 0.37.7go get github.com/cometbft/cometbft@v0.37.7 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/cometbft/cometbft | ≥ 0.38.0&&< 0.38.8 | 0.38.8go get github.com/cometbft/cometbft@v0.38.8 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/cometbft/cometbft, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/cometbft/cometbft to 0.37.7 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-hg58-rf2h-6rr7 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-hg58-rf2h-6rr7 in your dependencies?
Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.