Summary
Cosmos SDK: Groups module can halt chain when handling a malicious proposal
Name: ASA-2025-003: Groups module can halt chain when handling a malicious proposal
Component: CosmosSDK
Criticality: High (Considerable Impact; Likely Likelihood per ACMv1.2)
Affected versions: <= v0.47.15, <= 0.50.11
Affected users: Validators, Full nodes, Users on chains that utilize the groups module
Description
An issue was discovered in the groups module where a malicious proposal would result in a division by zero, and subsequently halt a chain due to the resulting error. Any user that can interact with the groups module can introduce this state.
Workarounds
There are no known workarounds for this issue. It is advised that chains apply the update.
Timeline
- February 9, 2025, 5:18pm PST: Issue reported to the Cosmos Bug Bounty program
- February 9, 2025, 8:12am PST: Issue triaged by Amulet on-call, and distributed to Core team
- February 9, 2025, 12:25pm PST: Core team completes validation of issue
- February 18, 2025, 8:00am PST / 17:00 CET: Pre-notification delivered
- February 20, 2025, 8:00am PST / 17:00 CET: Patch made available
This issue was reported to the Cosmos Bug Bounty Program by dongsam on HackerOne on February 9, 2025. 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.
If you have questions about Interchain security efforts, please reach out to our official communication channel at [email protected]. For more information about the Interchain Foundation’s engagement with Amulet, and to sign up for security notification emails, please see https://github.com/interchainio/security.
A Github Security Advisory for this issue is available in the Cosmos SDK repository.
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-X5VX-95H7-RV4P? GHSA-X5VX-95H7-RV4P is a high-severity security vulnerability in github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk (go), affecting versions <= 0.47.15. It is fixed in 0.47.16-ics-lsm, 0.50.12.
- Which versions of github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk are affected by GHSA-X5VX-95H7-RV4P? github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk (go) versions <= 0.47.15 is affected.
- Is there a fix for GHSA-X5VX-95H7-RV4P? Yes. GHSA-X5VX-95H7-RV4P is fixed in 0.47.16-ics-lsm, 0.50.12. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is GHSA-X5VX-95H7-RV4P exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-X5VX-95H7-RV4P 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-X5VX-95H7-RV4P 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-X5VX-95H7-RV4P?
- Upgrade
github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdkto 0.47.16-ics-lsm or later - Upgrade
github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdkto 0.50.12 or later
- Upgrade