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CVE-2025-47270: Denial of Service Vulnerability in nimiq/core-rs-albatross

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Overview

The nimiq/core-rs-albatross, a Rust implementation of the Nimiq Proof-of-Stake protocol, is under risk of a Denial of Service (DoS) attack due to a vulnerability in the `nimiq-network-libp2p` subcrate. This vulnerability threatens any system using this protocol and can lead to potential system compromise or data leakage.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-47270
Severity: High (CVSS:7.5)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise and data leakage due to memory exhaustion and node crashes

Affected Products

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Product | Affected Versions

nimiq/core-rs-albatross | Versions prior to v1.1.0

How the Exploit Works

The vulnerability lies in the `Discovery` network message handling within the `nimiq-network-libp2p` subcrate. This implementation allocates a buffer based on a length value provided by the peer, without an upper limit. The length is a `u32`, thus a malicious peer can trigger allocations of up to 4 GB, potentially leading to memory exhaustion and node crashes.

Conceptual Example Code

Given the nature of this vulnerability, it would be exploited over the network rather than via a specific code. However, in concept, a malicious peer could send an exaggeratedly large `Discovery` message leading to memory exhaustion. The process might be conceptually similar to this:

let large_message = vec![0; 4_000_000_000];  // 4 GB message
let discovery_message = DiscoveryMessage::new(large_message);
peer.send(discovery_message);  // Send the message to the target peer

Please note that this is a simplified, conceptual example and the actual process of exploitation might be more complex and require deeper knowledge of the Nimiq network protocol and the Rust programming language.

Mitigation Guidance

The vendor has released a patch as version v1.1.0. It implements a limit to the discovery message size of 1 MB and also resizes the message buffer size incrementally as the data is read. Systems using nimiq/core-rs-albatross should upgrade to this version as soon as possible.
In the interim, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) may provide temporary mitigation, but these are not substitutes for applying the vendor’s patch. No other known workarounds are available.

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Disclaimer:

The information and code presented in this article are provided for educational and defensive cybersecurity purposes only. Any conceptual or pseudocode examples are simplified representations intended to raise awareness and promote secure development and system configuration practices.

Do not use this information to attempt unauthorized access or exploit vulnerabilities on systems that you do not own or have explicit permission to test.

Ameeba and its authors do not endorse or condone malicious behavior and are not responsible for misuse of the content. Always follow ethical hacking guidelines, responsible disclosure practices, and local laws.

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