CVE-2026-34061
Interlink Validation Bypass in nimiq/core-rs-albatross Election Blocks
Publication date: 2026-04-03
Last updated on: 2026-05-05
Assigner: GitHub, Inc.
Description
Description
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
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Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| nimiq | nimiq_proof-of-stake | From 1.2.2 (inc) |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-345 | The product does not sufficiently verify the origin or authenticity of data, in a way that causes it to accept invalid data. |
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?
This vulnerability exists in the nimiq/core-rs-albatross Rust implementation of the Nimiq Proof-of-Stake protocol before version 1.3.0. An elected validator proposer can send an election macro block with a header.interlink that does not match the expected canonical next interlink. Honest validators accept this malformed proposal during the verify_macro_block_proposal() step because the interlink binding is not checked for election blocks. However, the same block is later rejected during the verify_block() step with an InvalidInterlink error. This means the failure occurs after the Tendermint consensus has already decided on the block, not before voting.
How can this vulnerability impact me? :
The impact of this vulnerability is an availability issue, as indicated by the CVSS score. Because the malformed block is accepted initially but rejected later, it can cause disruptions in the consensus process. Validators may waste resources processing invalid blocks, and the network could experience delays or interruptions in block finalization. The CVSS score rates the impact as having no confidentiality or integrity loss but a high impact on availability.
What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?
To mitigate this vulnerability, upgrade the nimiq/core-rs-albatross implementation to version 1.3.0 or later, where the issue has been patched.