# CVE-2017-12842: Business logic in n/a

> An attacker can forge valid SPV proofs for non-existent payments, potentially deceiving autonomous systems relying on SPV verification.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 16 Mar 2020
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-v55p-4chq-6grj

## What is CVE-2017-12842?

CVE-2017-12842 is a high-severity vulnerability in Bitcoin Bitcoin Core, published on 16 Mar 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Bitcoin Core before 0.14 allows an attacker to create an ostensibly valid SPV proof for a payment to a victim who uses an SPV wallet, even if that payment did not actually occur. Completing the attack would cost more than a million dollars, and is relevant mainly only in situations where an autonomous system relies solely on an SPV proof for transactions of a greater dollar amount.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-12842?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Bitcoin Bitcoin Core.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-12842?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-12842 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-12842 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-12842 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Bitcoin Bitcoin Core

- [CVE-2025-46597](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-46597/): Integer overflow in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2025-54604](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-54604/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2025-54605](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-54605/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2019-25220](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-25220/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2024-52912](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-52912/): Integer overflow in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-12842 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-12842 is a high-severity vulnerability in Bitcoin Bitcoin Core, published on 16 Mar 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-12842 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Bitcoin Bitcoin Core. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12842/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12842/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-12842
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-12842
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-12842

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12842/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.