GHSA-x5vx-95h7-rv4p Cosmos SDK: Groups module can halt chain when handling a malicious proposal
A malicious proposal in the Cosmos SDK groups module causes a division by zero, halting the blockchain for all validators and nodes.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is GHSA-x5vx-95h7-rv4p?
GHSA-x5vx-95h7-rv4p is a denial of service vulnerability in github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk, published on 20 Feb 2025. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Name: ASA-2025-003: Groups module can halt chain when handling a malicious proposal Component: CosmosSDK Criticality: High (Considerable Impact; Likely Likelihood per ACMv1.2) Affected versions: <= v0.47.15, <= 0.50.11 Affected users: Validators, Full nodes, Users on chains that utilize the groups module
Description
An issue was discovered in the groups module where a malicious proposal would result in a division by zero, and subsequently halt a chain due to the resulting error. Any user that can interact with the groups module can introduce this state.
Patches
The new Cosmos SDK release v0.50.12 and v0.47.16 fix this issue.
Workarounds
There are no known workarounds for this issue. It is advised that chains apply the update.
Timeline
- February 9, 2025, 5:18pm PST: Issue reported to the Cosmos Bug Bounty program
- February 9, 2025, 8:12am PST: Issue triaged by Amulet on-call, and distributed to Core team
- February 9, 2025, 12:25pm PST: Core team completes validation of issue
- February 18, 2025, 8:00am PST / 17:00 CET: Pre-notification delivered
- February 20, 2025, 8:00am PST / 17:00 CET: Patch made available
This issue was reported to the Cosmos Bug Bounty Program by dongsam on HackerOne on February 9, 2025. If you believe you have found a bug in the Interchain Stack or would like to contribute to the program by reporting a bug, please see https://hackerone.com/cosmos.
If you have questions about Interchain security efforts, please reach out to our official communication channel at [email protected]. For more information about the Interchain Foundation’s engagement with Amulet, and to sign up for security notification emails, please see https://github.com/interchainio/security.
A Github Security Advisory for this issue is available in the Cosmos SDK repository.
Which versions are affected by GHSA-x5vx-95h7-rv4p?
5 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk Go | All versions | 0.47.16-ics-lsm, 0.50.12 |
github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk Go | All versions | 0.47.16-ics-lsm |
github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk Go | All versions | 0.47.16-ics-lsm |
github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk Go | From 0.50.0-alpha.0 | 0.50.12 |
github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk Go | From 0.50.0-alpha.0 | 0.50.12 |
How do I fix GHSA-x5vx-95h7-rv4p?
Upgrade github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk to a fixed version for your release line: 0.47.16-ics-lsm or 0.50.12.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is GHSA-x5vx-95h7-rv4p being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of GHSA-x5vx-95h7-rv4p in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GO-2025-3476.