CVE-2023-38701
9.1 · CRITICALOverview
CVE-2023-38701 is a critical-severity vulnerability affecting iohk hydra. It was published on October 4, 2023 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.1 (CRITICAL).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.1, rated CRITICAL. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
Technical Description
Hydra is the layer-two scalability solution for Cardano. Users of the Hydra head protocol send the UTxOs they wish to commit into the Hydra head first to the `commit` validator, where they remain until they are either collected into the `head` validator or the protocol initialisation is aborted and the value in the committed UTxOs is returned to the users who committed them. Prior to version 0.12.0, the `commit` validator contains a flawed check when the `ViaAbort` redeemer is used, which allows any user to spend any UTxO which is at the validator arbitrarily, meaning an attacker can steal the funds that users are trying to commit into the head validator. The intended behavior is that the funds must be returned to the user which committed the funds and can only be performed by a participant of the head. The `initial` validator also is similarly affected as the same flawed check is performed for the `ViaAbort` redeemer. Due to this issue, an attacker can steal any funds that user's try
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from iohk. Update hydra to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| iohk | hydra | >= 0, < 0.12.0 | Affected |
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2023-38701?
CVE-2023-38701 is a critical-severity vulnerability affecting iohk hydra. It was published on October 4, 2023 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.1 (CRITICAL).
How severe is CVE-2023-38701?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.1, rated CRITICAL. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2023-38701?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from iohk. Update hydra to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2023-38701?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2023-38701 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
How CyberStrike Helps
AI agents map your attack surface to find vulnerabilities like this one.
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