Severity by source
AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N
Primary rating from GitHub Advisory · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorGitHub Advisory
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N
Lifecycle Timeline
5Blast Radius
ecosystem impact- 16 cargo packages depend on nimiq-transaction (10 direct, 6 indirect)
Ecosystem-wide dependent count for version 0.2.0.
DescriptionGitHub Advisory
Impact
The staking contract accepts UpdateValidator transactions that set new_voting_key=Some(...) while omitting new_proof_of_knowledge. this skips the proof-of-knowledge requirement that is needed to prevent BLS rogue-key attacks when public keys are aggregated.
Because tendermint macro block justification verification aggregates validator voting keys and verifies a single aggregated BLS signature against that aggregate public key, a rogue-key voting key in the validator set can allow an attacker to forge a quorum-looking justification while only producing a single signature.
While the impact is critical, the exploitability is low: The voting keys are fixed for the epoch, so the attacker would need to know the next epoch validator set (chosen through VRF), which is unlikely.
Patches
The patch for this vulnerability is included as part of v1.3.0.
Workarounds
No known workarounds.
AnalysisAI
The Nimiq staking contract accepts UpdateValidator transactions that omit proof-of-knowledge validation when updating voting keys, enabling rogue-key attacks against BLS signature aggregation used in Tendermint block justification. An attacker who can predict the next epoch's validator set could forge quorum-appearing block justifications with a single signature. Exploitation is constrained by the requirement to predict future validator set composition via VRF, making real-world attacks unlikely despite the critical cryptographic impact. Vendor-released patch v1.3.0 addresses the vulnerability.
Technical ContextAI
Nimiq's consensus mechanism uses BLS (Boneh-Lynn-Shacham) signature aggregation to verify block justifications from validator sets. When a voting key is updated via UpdateValidator transaction, the contract should validate a proof-of-knowledge (PoK) to prevent rogue-key attacks-a known vulnerability class (CWE-347: Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature) in systems that aggregate public keys without PoK. The vulnerability exists because the staking contract allows setting new_voting_key with Some(...) while omitting new_proof_of_knowledge, bypassing the cryptographic safeguard. An attacker exploiting this can inject a malicious voting key into the validator set such that when aggregate verification is performed (aggregating all voting keys and verifying against the aggregate public key), the attacker's single signature appears as part of a valid quorum signature, forging consensus. The affected CPE is pkg:rust/nimiq-transaction, indicating the vulnerability lies in the transaction validation layer of the Nimiq Albatross consensus protocol.
RemediationAI
Apply vendor patch: upgrade to Nimiq Core v1.3.0 or later (https://github.com/nimiq/core-rs-albatross/releases/tag/v1.3.0). The patch enforces mandatory proof-of-knowledge validation when UpdateValidator transactions set new voting keys, as detailed in commit e7f0ab7d2115e17d6e5548ddc60f10df1a5d645f. No workarounds exist per vendor guidance. Organizations running Nimiq validators should prioritize this patch to restore cryptographic guarantees of the consensus mechanism, particularly if operating in environments where validator set prediction attacks are a concern (though such prediction is considered impractical against VRF-based selection).
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External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today
EUVD-2026-25086
GHSA-pf4j-pf3w-95f9