libp2p-rust is the official rust language Implementation of the libp2p networking stack. In versions prior to 0.49.3, the Gossipsub implementation accepts attacker-controlled PRUNE backoff values and may perform unchecked time arithmetic when storing backoff state. A specially crafted PRUNE control message with an extremely large backoff (e.g. u64::MAX) can lead to Duration/Instant overflow during backoff update logic, triggering a panic in the networking state machine. This is remotely reachable over a normal libp2p connection and does not require authentication. Any application exposing a libp2p Gossipsub listener and using the affected backoff-handling path can be crashed by a network attacker that can reach the service port. The attack can be repeated by reconnecting and replaying the crafted control message. This issue has been fixed in version 0.49.3.

Affected: crates.io: libp2p-gossipsub

### Summary The Rust libp2p Gossipsub implementation accepts attacker-controlled PRUNE backoff values and may perform unchecked time arithmetic when storing backoff state. A specially crafted PRUNE control message with an extremely large backoff (e.g. u64::MAX) can lead to Duration/Instant overflow during backoff update logic, triggering a panic in the networking state machine. This is remotely reachable over a normal libp2p connection and does not require authentication.

### Attack Scenario An attacker that can establish a libp2p Gossipsub session with a target node can crash the target by sending a single crafted PRUNE control message: 1. Establish a standard libp2p transport session and negotiate a stream multiplexer. 2. Open a Gossipsub stream and negotiate the meshsub protocol. 3. Send one protobuf RPC containing ControlPrune with a very large backoff value (e.g. 18446744073709551615 / u64::MAX). When processed, the oversized backoff can reach time-update logic that adds Duration::from_secs(backoff) to Instant::now(), causing overflow and panic.

### Impact Remote unauthenticated denial of service. Any application exposing a libp2p Gossipsub listener and using the affected backoff-handling path can be crashed by a network attacker that can reach the service port. The attack can be repeated by reconnecting and replaying the crafted control message. ### Patches Users should upgrade to a release that hardens Gossipsub backoff handling.

This vulnerability was originally s…

Affected: Ubuntu:25.10: rust-libp2p-identity, Ubuntu:26.04:LTS: rust-libp2p-identity

libp2p-rust is the official rust language Implementation of the libp2p networking stack. In versions prior to 0.49.3, the Gossipsub implementation accepts attacker-controlled PRUNE backoff values and may perform unchecked time arithmetic when storing backoff state. A specially crafted PRUNE control message with an extremely large backoff (e.g. u64::MAX) can lead to Duration/Instant overflow during backoff update logic, triggering a panic in the networking state machine. This is remotely reachable over a normal libp2p connection and does not require authentication. Any application exposing a libp2p Gossipsub listener and using the affected backoff-handling path can be crashed by a network attacker that can reach the service port. The attack can be repeated by reconnecting and replaying the crafted control message. This issue has been fixed in version 0.49.3.