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ASA-2024-006: ValidateVoteExtensions helper function in Cosmos SDK may allow incorrect voting power assumptions

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published Mar 12, 2024 in cosmos/cosmos-sdk • Updated Apr 2, 2024

Package

gomod github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk (Go)

Affected versions

>= 0.50.0, <= 0.50.4

Patched versions

0.50.5

Description

ASA-2024-006: ValidateVoteExtensions helper function may allow incorrect voting power assumptions

Component: Cosmos SDK
Criticality: High
Affected Versions: Cosmos SDK versions <= 0.50.4, on 0.50 branches
Affected Users: Chain developers, Validator and Node operators
Impact: Elevation of Privilege

Summary

The default ValidateVoteExtensions helper function infers total voting power based off of the injected VoteExtension, which are injected by the proposer. If your chain utilizes the ValidateVoteExtensions helper in ProcessProposal, a dishonest proposer can potentially mutate voting power of each validator it includes in the injected VoteExtension, which could have potentially unexpected or negative consequences on modified state. Additional validation on injected VoteExtension data was added to confirm voting power against the state machine.

Next Steps for Impacted Parties

If you are a chain developer on an affected version of the Cosmos SDK, it is advised to update to the latest available version of the Cosmos SDK for your project. Once a patched version is available, it is recommended that network operators upgrade.

A Github Security Advisory for this issue is available in the Cosmos-SDK repository. For more information about Cosmos SDK, see https://docs.cosmos.network/.

References

@mizmo18 mizmo18 published to cosmos/cosmos-sdk Mar 12, 2024
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Mar 12, 2024
Reviewed Mar 12, 2024
Last updated Apr 2, 2024

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H

Weaknesses

CVE ID

No known CVE

GHSA ID

GHSA-95rx-m9m5-m94v

Source code

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