GitHub Advisoryadvisory · crates.io

GHSA-46wq-28cx-mhw4 nimiq-primitives: Panic in TrieProof::verify via child_index unwrap on equal-length keys

LOW Published 2026-07-16 Modified 2026-07-16 Official page ↗
Aliases
CVE-2026-54541
Ecosystem
crates.io
Packages
nimiq-primitives
Severity
Low
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Weaknesses
CWE-248
Reviewed
2026-07-16

Affected packages

• crates.io nimiq-primitives: < 1.6.0 → fixed in 1.6.0

Description

Impact A malicious peer acting as a state-sync source can crash a syncing node by sending a crafted `TrieChunk` whose proof contains two `TrieProofNode`s with identical keys. `TrieProof::verify()` calls `TrieProofNode::child_index()` (`primitives/src/trie/trie_proof_node.rs:94`), which unconditionally unwraps `KeyNibbles::get(self.key.len())`. Because `is_prefix_of` returns `true` for two equal keys, execution reaches `get(len)`, which returns `None`, and the `unwrap()` panics. The panic is reached from untrusted network input (`ResponseChunk` → `commit_chunks` → `put_chunk` → `proof.verify()`) before any cryptographic proof verification, so the attacker does not need to produce a valid proof. Exploitation requires the attacker to be selected as the victim's sync peer while the victim is performing state sync, and the resulting crash is transient (the node restarts and re-syncs). Affected: core-rs-albatross <= 1.5.1 (`nimiq-primitives`). Patches Fixed in 1.6.0 via https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross/pull/3789 (commit `41d35ace`). `child_index` now rejects equal-length keys and returns `MerkleRadixTrieError::WrongPrefix` instead of unwrapping. Workarounds None other than syncing only from trusted peers. Upgrade to 1.6.0.

Related

Alias · CVE (1)

  • CVE-2026-54541 Nimiq is a Rust implementation of the Nimiq Proof-of-Stake protocol based on the Albatross consensus algorithm. vulnerability

Weakness · CWE (1)

  • CWE-248 Uncaught Exception weakness

References