CVE-2023-42448
Hydra's contestation period in head datum can be modified during Close transaction, allowing malicious participant to freely modify the contestation deadline
- Published
- Updated
- Reserved
- Assigned by
- GitHub_M
Description
Hydra is the layer-two scalability solution for Cardano. Prior to version 0.13.0, the specification states that the contestation period in the datum of the UTxO at the head validator must stay unchanged as the state progresses from Open to Closed (Close transaction), but no such check appears to be performed in the `checkClose` function of the head validator. This would allow a malicious participant to modify the contestation deadline of the head to either allow them to fanout the head without giving another participant the chance to contest, or prevent any participant from ever redistributing the funds locked in the head via a fan-out. Version 0.13.0 contains a patch for this issue.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub_MCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | High8.1 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.1 | High8.1 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.98% · top 38% of all CVEs (7 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.1.
Weakness
Affected products
- affected < 0.13.0
References (5)
- https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/security/advisories/GHSA-mgcx-6p7h-5996 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/commit/2f45529729e28254a62f7a7c8d6649066923ed1f (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md#0130---2023-10-03 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/blob/master/hydra-plutus/src/Hydra/Contract/Head.hs#L284-L296 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://github.com/input-output-hk/hydra/blob/master/hydra-plutus/src/Hydra/Contract/Head.hs#L320-L323 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://trackcve.app/cve/CVE-2023-42448)Record last updated .