CVE-2023-38701 Hydra's committed UTxOs at Commit validator and UTxOs at Initial validator can be spent arbitrarily by anyone
Attackers can steal committed funds and block head initialization due to flawed validator checks in the Hydra protocol.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2023-38701?
CVE-2023-38701 is a critical vulnerability in input-output-hk hydra, published on 4 Oct 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Hydra is the layer-two scalability solution for Cardano. Users of the Hydra head protocol send the UTxOs they wish to commit into the Hydra head first to the `commit` validator, where they remain until they are either collected into the `head` validator or the protocol initialisation is aborted and the value in the committed UTxOs is returned to the users who committed them. Prior to version 0.12.0, the `commit` validator contains a flawed check when the `ViaAbort` redeemer is used, which allows any user to spend any UTxO which is at the validator arbitrarily, meaning an attacker can steal the funds that users are trying to commit into the head validator. The intended behavior is that the funds must be returned to the user which committed the funds and can only be performed by a participant of the head. The `initial` validator also is similarly affected as the same flawed check is performed for the `ViaAbort` redeemer. Due to this issue, an attacker can steal any funds that user's try to commit into a Hydra head. Also, an attacker can prevent any Hydra head from being successfully opened. It does not allow an attacker to take funds which have been successfully collected into and currently reside in the `head` validator. Version 0.12.0 contains a fix for this issue.
Weakness: CWE-20
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-38701?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Iohk Hydra.
How do I fix CVE-2023-38701?
No fix has been published for CVE-2023-38701 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2023-38701 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-38701 exists.
Other vulnerabilities in input-output-hk hydra
Sources
Also known as GHSA-6x9v-7x5r-w8w6.