Summary
Cosmos-SDK Cosmovisor component may be vulnerable to denial of service
Component: Cosmovisor
Criticality: Medium
Affected Versions: Cosmovisor < v1.0.0 (distributed with Cosmos-SDK < 0.46)
Affected Users: Validators and Node operators utilizing unsupported versions of Cosmovisor
Impact: DOS, potential RCE on node depending on configuration
An issue has been identified on unsupported versions of Cosmovisor which may result in a Denial of Service or Remote Code Execution path depending on configuration for a node or validator using the vulnerable version to manage their node.
If a validator is utilizing an affected version of Cosmovisor with DAEMON_ALLOW_DOWNLOAD_BINARIES set to true, a non-default configuration, it may be possible for an attacker to trigger a Remote Code Execution path as well on the host. In this configuration it is recommended to immediately stop use of the DAEMON_ALLOW_DOWNLOAD_BINARIES feature, and then proceed with an upgrade of Cosmovisor.
It is recommended that all validators utilizing unsupported versions of Cosmovisor to upgrade to the latest supported versions immediately. If you are utilizing a forked version of Cosmos-SDK, it is recommended to stop use of Cosmovisor until it is possible to update to a supported version of Cosmovisor, whether through your project’s fork, or directly compiled from the Cosmos-SDK. At the time of this advisory, the latest version of Cosmovisor is v1.5.0.
Additionally, the Amulet team recommends that developers building chains powered by Cosmos-SDK share this advisory with validators and node operators to ensure this information is available to all impacted parties within their ecosystems.
For more information about Cosmovisor, see https://docs.cosmos.network/main/tooling/cosmovisor
This issue was discovered by Maxwell Dulin and Nathan Kirkland, who reported it to the Cosmos Bug Bounty Program. If you believe you have found a bug in the Interchain Stack or would like to contribute to the program by reporting a bug, please see https://hackerone.com/cosmos.
How to tell if I am affected?
Running the following command will output whether your cosmovisor version is vulnerable to this issue or not.
Vulnerable to this issue:
strings ./cosmovisor | grep -q "NEEDED at" && echo "vulnerable" || echo "NOT vulnerable"
vulnerable
NOT vulnerable to this issue:
strings ./cosmovisor_new | grep -q "NEEDED at" && echo "vulnerable" || echo "NOT vulnerable"
NOT vulnerable
A Note from Amulet on the Security Advisory Process
In the interest of timely resolution of this issue for validators and node operators, the Amulet team has chosen to use existing processes and resources for distributing security advisories within the Cosmos and Interchain Ecosystems. Stay tuned as we implement an improved, more robust security advisory distribution system that will provide equitable access to information about security issues in the Interchain Stack.
Impact
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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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is GHSA-23PX-MW2P-46QM? GHSA-23PX-MW2P-46QM is a medium-severity security vulnerability in github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk (go), affecting versions < 0.46. It is fixed in 0.46.
- Which versions of github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk are affected by GHSA-23PX-MW2P-46QM? github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk (go) versions < 0.46 is affected.
- Is there a fix for GHSA-23PX-MW2P-46QM? Yes. GHSA-23PX-MW2P-46QM is fixed in 0.46. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is GHSA-23PX-MW2P-46QM exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-23PX-MW2P-46QM 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 GHSA-23PX-MW2P-46QM 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 GHSA-23PX-MW2P-46QM? Upgrade
github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdkto 0.46 or later.