How severe is GHSA-xc79-566c-j4qx?

GHSA-xc79-566c-j4qx has a CVSS score of 7.5/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-xc79-566c-j4qx?

GHSA-xc79-566c-j4qx affects the following packages: github.com/microstack-tech/parallax (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix GHSA-xc79-566c-j4qx?

Update github.com/microstack-tech/parallax to 0.1.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-xc79-566c-j4qx is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-xc79-566c-j4qx in my Go dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/microstack-tech/parallax, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate GHSA-xc79-566c-j4qx if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Constrain what reaches the vulnerable code: limit the size and shape of untrusted input, isolate the affected component in a sandboxed or least-privileged process, and enable the platform's memory-safety mitigations (ASLR, stack protector, hardened allocator) so an out-of-bounds access is more likely to fail closed than to be exploitable.

Is GHSA-xc79-566c-j4qx actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-xc79-566c-j4qx yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

When was GHSA-xc79-566c-j4qx published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-xc79-566c-j4qx was published on October 10, 2025 and was last updated on October 23, 2025. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐹

🐹 Go

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

Parallax is vulnerable to DoS via malicious p2p messageGHSA-xc79-566c-j4qx

HIGHFix: microstack-tech/parallax@f759e90

GHSA-xc79-566c-j4qx is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) remote code execution vulnerability in github.com/microstack-tech/parallax. A fix is available for github.com/microstack-tech/parallax — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Also known asGO-2025-4019

Published

Oct 10, 2025

Updated

Oct 23, 2025

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Oct 23, 2025 · OSV.dev, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

🐹github.com/microstack-tech/parallax

Real-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

Impact

A vulnerable node can be made to consume very large amounts of memory when handling specially crafted p2p messages sent from an attacker node.

In order to carry out the attack, the attacker establishes a peer connections to the victim, and sends a malicious GetBlockHeadersRequest message with a count of 0, using the Parallax protocol.

In descendants := chain.GetHeadersFrom(num+count-1, count-1), the value of count-1 is passed to the function GetHeadersFrom(number, count uint64) as parameter count. Due to integer overflow, UINT64_MAX value is then passed as the count argument to function GetHeadersFrom(number, count uint64). This allows an attacker to bypass maxHeadersServe and request all headers from the latest block back to the genesis block.

Patches

The fix has been included in the Parallax client version 0.1.4 and onwards.

The vulnerability was patched in: https://github.com/microstack-tech/parallax/commit/f759e9090aaf00a43c616d7cbd133c44bb1ed01e

Workarounds

No workarounds have been made public.

Credit

This issue was disclosed responsibly by DongHan Kim via the Ethereum bug bounty program, the cooperation is appreciated.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`github.com/microstack-tech/parallax`	all versions	0.1.4`go get github.com/microstack-tech/parallax@v0.1.4`

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/microstack-tech/parallax, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/microstack-tech/parallax to 0.1.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-xc79-566c-j4qx is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Constrain what reaches the vulnerable code: limit the size and shape of untrusted input, isolate the affected component in a sandboxed or least-privileged process, and enable the platform's memory-safety mitigations (ASLR, stack protector, hardened allocator) so an out-of-bounds access is more likely to fail closed than to be exploitable.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact A vulnerable node can be made to consume very large amounts of memory when handling specially crafted p2p messages sent from an attacker node. In order to carry out the attack, the attacker establishes a peer connections to the victim, and sends a malicious `GetBlockHeadersRequest` message with a `count` of `0`, using the `Parallax` protocol. In `descendants := chain.GetHeadersFrom(num+count-1, count-1)`, the value of `count-1` is passed to the function `GetHeadersFrom(number, count uint64)` as parameter `count`. Due to integer overflow, `UINT64_MAX` value is then passed as the `

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