GHSA-5RG2-XV9J-GV5P

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-07-16 20:03 – Updated: 2026-07-16 20:03
VLAI
Summary
nimiq-primitives: Out-of-bounds panic in KeyNibbles::Add from oversized child suffix in a deserialized proof
Details

Impact

A malicious peer acting as a state-sync source can crash a syncing node with a crafted TrieChunk whose proof contains a TrieNodeChild whose suffix, when concatenated with the parent key via KeyNibbles::Add, exceeds the fixed 63-byte backing array. Add (primitives/src/key_nibbles.rs:332 / :341) indexes bytes[self.bytes_len()..self.bytes_len() + other.bytes_len()] with no combined-length check, causing an out-of-bounds slice panic (both the even- and odd-length branches).

KeyNibbles deserialization validates only the individual length <= 126, not the combined parent + suffix length. The panic occurs at put_chunk → child.key() → is_stump() → +, i.e. before proof.verify(), so no valid proof is required. As with the related child_index issue, exploitation requires being the victim's sync peer during state sync, and the resulting crash is transient (the node restarts and re-syncs).

Affected: core-rs-albatross <= 1.5.1 (nimiq-primitives).

Patches

Fixed in 1.6.0 via https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross/pull/3790 (commit eabfc3e2), which guards key-nibble concatenation against exceeding the maximum length instead of indexing out of bounds.

Workarounds

None other than syncing only from trusted peers. Upgrade to 1.6.0.

Severity
3.7 (Low)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
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{
  "affected": [
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "crates.io",
        "name": "nimiq-primitives"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "1.6.0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-54542"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-125"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": true,
    "github_reviewed_at": "2026-07-16T20:03:25Z",
    "nvd_published_at": null,
    "severity": "LOW"
  },
  "details": "### Impact\n\nA malicious peer acting as a state-sync source can crash a syncing node with a crafted `TrieChunk` whose proof contains a `TrieNodeChild` whose `suffix`, when concatenated with the parent key via `KeyNibbles::Add`, exceeds the fixed 63-byte backing array. `Add` (`primitives/src/key_nibbles.rs:332` / `:341`) indexes `bytes[self.bytes_len()..self.bytes_len() + other.bytes_len()]` with no combined-length check, causing an out-of-bounds slice panic (both the even- and odd-length branches).\n\n`KeyNibbles` deserialization validates only the individual `length \u003c= 126`, not the combined parent + suffix length. The panic occurs at `put_chunk` \u2192 `child.key()` \u2192 `is_stump()` \u2192 `+`, i.e. **before** `proof.verify()`, so no valid proof is required. As with the related `child_index` issue, exploitation requires being the victim\u0027s sync peer during state sync, and the resulting crash is transient (the node restarts and re-syncs).\n\nAffected: core-rs-albatross \u003c= 1.5.1 (`nimiq-primitives`).\n\n### Patches\n\nFixed in **1.6.0** via https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross/pull/3790 (commit `eabfc3e2`), which guards key-nibble concatenation against exceeding the maximum length instead of indexing out of bounds.\n\n### Workarounds\n\nNone other than syncing only from trusted peers. Upgrade to 1.6.0.",
  "id": "GHSA-5rg2-xv9j-gv5p",
  "modified": "2026-07-16T20:03:25Z",
  "published": "2026-07-16T20:03:25Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross/security/advisories/GHSA-5rg2-xv9j-gv5p"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross/pull/3790"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross/commit/eabfc3e21731b0628c3f933163a0f1e1864217bf"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross/releases/tag/v1.6.0"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "nimiq-primitives: Out-of-bounds panic in KeyNibbles::Add from oversized child suffix in a deserialized proof"
}



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