nimiq-transaction: UpdateValidator transactions allows voting key change without proof-of-knowledgeGHSA-pf4j-pf3w-95f9
MEDIUMFix: nimiq/core-rs-albatross#3654GHSA-pf4j-pf3w-95f9 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.8) CWE-347 vulnerability in nimiq-transaction. 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’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-pf4j-pf3w-95f9.
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-transactionReal-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
The staking contract accepts UpdateValidator transactions that set new_voting_key=Some(...) while omitting new_proof_of_knowledge. this skips the proof-of-knowledge requirement that is needed to prevent BLS rogue-key attacks when public keys are aggregated.
Because tendermint macro block justification verification aggregates validator voting keys and verifies a single aggregated BLS signature against that aggregate public key, a rogue-key voting key in the validator set can allow an attacker to forge a quorum-looking justification while only producing a single signature.
While the impact is critical, the exploitability is low: The voting keys are fixed for the epoch, so the attacker would need to know the next epoch validator set (chosen through VRF), which is unlikely.
Patches
The patch for this vulnerability is included as part of v1.3.0.
Workarounds
No known workarounds.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | nimiq-transaction | 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-transaction, 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-transaction for GHSA-pf4j-pf3w-95f9. 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-pf4j-pf3w-95f9 in your dependencies?
Find it across crates.io, including transitive dependencies.