CVE-2023-28431: Pallet evm precompile modexp Frontier's Modexp Precompile Is Slow Vulnerability
HIGHCVE-2023-28431 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) frontier's modexp precompile is slow vulnerability (CWE-682: Incorrect Calculation) affecting Pallet evm precompile modexp libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves frontier's modexp precompile is slow for even modulus. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.
CVE-2023-28431 at a Glance
Security Impact
CVSS: 7.5
The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).
How to Fix CVE-2023-28431
To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Pallet evm precompile modexp dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.
Upgrade pallet-evm-precompile-modexp to Latest secure releaseRun the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:
inspect dependencies for pallet-evm-precompile-modexpHow to Check if You Are Affected
To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2023-28431, inspect your project dependencies for Pallet evm precompile modexp:
inspect dependencies for pallet-evm-precompile-modexpAnalyze the terminal output to locate any version of Pallet evm precompile modexp in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.
Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.
Technical Details
Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis
This vulnerability is classified under CWE-682: Incorrect Calculation, where the product performs a calculation that generates incorrect or unintended results that are later used in security-critical decisions or resource management. In Pallet evm precompile modexp, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.
Source Advisory Statement
CVE-2023-28431 Affected Pallet evm precompile modexp Versions
1 component(s)| Product / Package | Ecosystem | Affected Versions | Fixed Version |
|---|---|---|---|
|
pallet-evm-precompile-modexp
|
crates.io |
≤ 1.0.0
|
|
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2023-28431?
Which Pallet evm precompile modexp versions are affected?
What version fixes CVE-2023-28431?
Is pallet-evm-precompile-modexp affected?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-28431?
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-28431?
How can I check crates.io dependencies for CVE-2023-28431?
Machine-readable OSV JSON
OSV v1.5 Schema
{
"schema_version" : "1.4.0",
"id" : "GHSA-fcmm-54jp-7vf6",
"modified" : "2024-10-24T21:21:00Z",
"published" : "2023-03-21T22:31:30Z",
"aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-28431" ],
"summary" : "Frontier's modexp precompile is slow for even modulus",
"details" : "### Impact\n\nFrontier's `modexp` precompile uses `num-bigint` crate under the hood. [In the implementation](https://github.com/rust-num/num-bigint/blob/6f2b8e0fc218dbd0f49bebb8db2d1a771fe6bafa/src/biguint/power.rs#L134), the cases for modulus being even and modulus being odd are treated separately. Odd modulus uses the fast Montgomery multiplication, and even modulus uses the slow plain power algorithm. This gas cost discrepancy was not accounted for in the `modexp` precompile, leading to possible denial of service attacks.\n\n### Patches\n\nNo fixes for `num-bigint` is currently available, and thus this advisory will be first fixed in the short term by raising the gas costs for even modulus, and in the long term fixing it in `num-bigint` or switching to another modexp implementation.\n\nThe short-term fix for Frontier is deployed at [PR 1017](https://github.com/paritytech/frontier/pull/1017).\n\nThe recommendations are as follows:\n\n- If you anticipate malicious validators, it's recommended to issue an emergency runtime upgrade as soon as possible.\n- If you do not anticipate malicious validators, it's recommended to issue a normal runtime upgrade, as Substrate has builtin timeout protection when validators are building blocks.\n\n### Workarounds\n\nNone.\n\n### References\n\nA similar issue was presented in Geth's implementation and the fix can be found [here](https://go-review.googlesource.com/c/go/+/420897).\n",
"severity" : [ {
"type" : "CVSS_V3",
"score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
} ],
"affected" : [ {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "crates.io",
"name" : "pallet-evm-precompile-modexp"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "0"
}, {
"last_affected" : "1.0.0"
} ]
} ]
} ],
"references" : [ {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/paritytech/frontier/security/advisories/GHSA-fcmm-54jp-7vf6"
}, {
"type" : "ADVISORY",
"url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-28431"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/paritytech/frontier/pull/1017"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/paritytech/frontier/commit/5af12e94d7dfc8a0208a290643a800f55de7b219"
}, {
"type" : "PACKAGE",
"url" : "https://github.com/polkadot-evm/frontier"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/rust-num/num-bigint/blob/6f2b8e0fc218dbd0f49bebb8db2d1a771fe6bafa/src/biguint/power.rs#L134"
} ],
"database_specific" : {
"cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-682" ],
"severity" : "HIGH",
"github_reviewed" : true,
"github_reviewed_at" : "2023-03-21T22:31:30Z",
"nvd_published_at" : "2023-03-22T21:15:00Z"
}
}