Summary
Tendermint light client verification not taking into account chain ID
Workarounds
None
References
Impact
Anyone using the tendermint-light-client and related packages to perform light client verification (e.g. IBC-rs, Hermes).
At present, the light client does not check that the chain IDs of the trusted and untrusted headers match, resulting in a possible attack vector where someone who finds a header from an untrusted chain that satisfies all other verification conditions (e.g. enough overlapping validator signatures) could fool a light client.
The attack vector is currently theoretical, and no proof-of-concept exists yet to exploit it on live networks.
CVE-2022-23507 has a CVSS score of 5.4 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (0.28.0); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Users of the light client-related crates can currently upgrade to v0.28.0.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2022-23507? CVE-2022-23507 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in tendermint-light-client-verifier (rust), affecting versions <= 0.27.0. It is fixed in 0.28.0.
- How severe is CVE-2022-23507? CVE-2022-23507 has a CVSS score of 5.4 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which packages are affected by CVE-2022-23507?
tendermint-light-client-verifier(rust) (versions <= 0.27.0)tendermint-light-client(rust) (versions <= 0.27.0)tendermint-light-client-js(rust) (versions <= 0.27.0)
- Is there a fix for CVE-2022-23507? Yes. CVE-2022-23507 is fixed in 0.28.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2022-23507 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2022-23507 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2022-23507 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2022-23507?
- Upgrade
tendermint-light-client-verifierto 0.28.0 or later - Upgrade
tendermint-light-clientto 0.28.0 or later - Upgrade
tendermint-light-client-jsto 0.28.0 or later
- Upgrade