Nimiq: Out-of-bounds panic in KeyNibbles::Add from oversized child suffix in a deserialized proof
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · Low
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub.
Summary
Nimiq is a Rust implementation of the Nimiq Proof-of-Stake protocol based on the Albatross consensus algorithm. Prior to 1.6.0, a malicious state-sync peer can crash a syncing node by sending a crafted TrieChunk whose proof contains a TrieNodeChild suffix that is individually valid but exceeds the 63-byte KeyNibbles backing array when combined with the parent key. KeyNibbles::Add in primitives/src/key_nibbles.rs performs the combined slice operation without checking the total length, and the input reaches put_chunk, TrieNodeChild::key, and TrieNodeChild::is_stump before proof.verify, so the attacker does not need a valid cryptographic proof. Exploitation requires the attacker to be selected as the victim's sync peer during state sync. The resulting out-of-bounds panic is transient because the node restarts and resynchronizes. This issue is fixed in version 1.6.0.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nimiq | core-rs-albatross | before 1.6.0 | 1.6.0 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | nimiq-primitives (crates.io) | before 1.6.0 | 1.6.0 | Patch available | GHSA-5rg2-xv9j-gv5p |
- core-rs-albatross Vendornimiq Affected before 1.6.0 Fixed in 1.6.0 Patch available CNA
- nimiq-primitives (crates.io) Vendor— Affected before 1.6.0 Fixed in 1.6.0 Patch available GHSA-5rg2-xv9j-gv5p
Remediation
- Fix · CNA core-rs-albatross (nimiq) Fixed in 1.6.0
- Fix · GHSA-5rg2-xv9j-gv5p nimiq-primitives (crates.io) Fixed in 1.6.0 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-54542
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-5rg2-xv9j-gv5p
References
Other 5
- https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross/security/advisories/GHSA-5rg2-xv9j-gv5p
- https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross/pull/3790
- https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross/commit/eabfc3e21731b0628c3f933163a0f1e1864217bf
- https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross/releases/tag/v1.6.0
- https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross
More nimiq vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-26389 nimiq-account: Vesting insufficient funds error can panic CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.2
- TI-2026-25867 nimiq-block has skip block quorum bypass via out-of-range BitSet indices & u16 truncation CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.6
- TI-2026-34086 Nimiq: Validity store off by one error CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-28920 nimiq-keys: Unchecked Ed25519 signature length in TaggedPublicKey::verify causes remote node panic via DHT CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2025-29800 nimiq-network-libp2p Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-34224 nimiq-primitives: Panic DoS in trie chunk processing via ROOT-keyed item CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
Sources
- CVE-2026-54542 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-54542 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-5rg2-xv9j-gv5p · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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