CVE-2026-46541 Nimiq network-libp2p: DHT query poisoning via first-record verification failure
A malicious DHT node can cause denial of service by poisoning queries, leading to the discarding of valid records in the Nimiq network library.
- 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-2026-46541?
CVE-2026-46541 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in nimiq core-rs-albatross, published on 9 Jun 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Nimiq is a Rust implementation of the Nimiq Proof-of-Stake protocol based on the Albatross consensus algorithm. Prior to version 1.4.0, iIn handle_dht_get(), the DhtResults accumulator is only initialized when the first DHT record passes verification. If the first record fails (from a malicious DHT node), DhtResults is never created, and all subsequent valid records are discarded with "DHT inconsistent state" errors. This issue has been patched in version 1.4.0.
Weakness: CWE-754
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-46541?
How do I fix CVE-2026-46541?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-46541 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2026-46541 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-46541 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-ccqv-2c9q-mqw5.