Missing authorization in Hydra Deposit Claim enables fund redirection
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- Present
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · High · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-862.
Summary
Hydra by cardano-scaling before 2.1.0 has a missing authorization flaw (CWE-862) in the Claim branch of its deposit validator. The branch checks the Head ID but does not require spending the Head state-token UTxO, so a deposit can be spent without invoking the Head validator's safety checks. An unauthenticated remote attacker who can build a Cardano transaction can spend a pending deposit before its deadline and redirect the assets to an arbitrary address.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-31
Description from the CNA
Hydra is a layer-two scalability solution for Cardano. Prior to 2.1.0, the `Claim` branch in `hydra-plutus/validators/deposit.ak` checks only that `datum.head_id` matches the attacker-controlled `redeemer.currencySymbol` and that the transaction is valid before the deposit deadline. It neither requires spending the Head state-token UTxO in the same transaction nor constrains outputs. After a deposit made through `POST /commit` is confirmed, any third party able to build a Cardano transaction can observe and consume the pending deposit UTxO before its deadline and redirect the assets to an arbitrary address. A standalone deposit spend invokes no Head validator, bypassing its safety checks; historical head-ID binding and the Aiken rewrite retained this missing invariant. The default deadline is three times depositPeriod, so the described attack applies to pending deposits before that deadline. This issue is fixed in version 2.1.0.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cardano-scaling | hydra | before 2.1.0 | 2.1.0 | Patch available | CNA |
- hydra Vendorcardano-scaling Affected before 2.1.0 Fixed in 2.1.0 Patch available CNA
Remediation
Upgrade Hydra to version 2.1.0, which fixes this issue.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-31
- Fix · CNA hydra (cardano-scaling) Fixed in 2.1.0
Vendor assessments
Timeline
- 2026-10-30 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-62162
- 2026-10-30 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-30 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-10-31 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-31 CVSS score added · Red Hat
References
More cardano-scaling vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-31036 hydra-node dangerously assumes L1 event finality and does not consider failed transactions CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 4.8
Sources
- CVE-2026-62162 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-62162 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- CVE-2026-62162 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences