Vulnerabilities in pkg:golang/github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v8

PACKAGE
Advisory Summary

GHSA-4wf3-5qj9-368v is a CRITICAL non-deterministic json unmarshalling of ibc vulnerability (General Security Weakness) affecting IBC-Go libraries in the Go ecosystem. The issue involves non-deterministic json unmarshalling of ibc acknowledgement can result in a chain halt. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 7.10.0, 8.7.0.

3 Known Advisory Record(s)
Package Vulnerability Intelligence

pkg:golang/github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v8

3 Known Advisory Record(s)

Vulnerability advisories affecting package pkg:golang/github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v8. Select an advisory below to view technical details or fixes.

Advisory ID CVE / NVD Severity Summary
GHSA-4wf3-5qj9-368v - CRITICAL IBC-Go: Non-deterministic JSON Unmarshalling of IBC Acknowledgement can result in a chain halt
GHSA-jg6f-48ff-5xrw - CRITICAL IBC-Go has Non-deterministic JSON Unmarshalling of IBC Acknowledgement
GHSA-j496-crgh-34mx - CRITICAL ibc-go: Potential Reentrancy using Timeout Callbacks in ibc-hooks

GHSA-4wf3-5qj9-368v at a Glance

CVE Identifier N/A
GHSA Identifier GHSA-4wf3-5qj9-368v
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification General Security Weakness
Affected Product IBC-Go
Package Ecosystem Go
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix GHSA-4wf3-5qj9-368v

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected IBC-Go dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

github.com/cosmos/ibc-go fixed: 7.10.0
Upgrade github.com/cosmos/ibc-go to 7.10.0
github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v8 fixed: 8.7.0
Upgrade github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v8 to 8.7.0
github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v2 fixed: 7.10.0
Upgrade github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v2 to 7.10.0
github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v3 fixed: 7.10.0
Upgrade github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v3 to 7.10.0
github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v4 fixed: 7.10.0
Upgrade github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v4 to 7.10.0
github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v5 fixed: 7.10.0
Upgrade github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v5 to 7.10.0
github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v6 fixed: 7.10.0
Upgrade github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v6 to 7.10.0
github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v7 fixed: 7.10.0
Upgrade github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v7 to 7.10.0
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:

inspect dependencies for github.com/cosmos/ibc-go

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by GHSA-4wf3-5qj9-368v, inspect your project dependencies for IBC-Go:

inspect dependencies for github.com/cosmos/ibc-go

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of IBC-Go in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 7.10.0), 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 General Security Weakness. In IBC-Go, 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

Name: ISA-2025-001: Non-deterministic JSON Unmarshalling of IBC Acknowledgement can result in a chain halt Component: IBC-Go Criticality: High (Considerable Impact; Likely Likelihood per [ACMv1.2](https://github.com/interchainio/security/blob/main/resources/CLASSIFICATION_MATRIX.md)) Affected versions: IBC-Go >= v7; Earlier IBC-Go versions MAY also be affected. Affected users: Validators, Full nodes, IBC Middleware authors ### Description An issue was discovered in IBC-Go's deserialization of acknowledgements that results in non-deterministic behavior which can halt a chain. Any user that can open an IBC channel can introduce this state to the chain. The following patch is in addition to the previous patch which now extends the same protection to all applications beyond transfer. ### Patches The new IBC-Go releases below address this issue: * [v7.10.0](https://github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/releases/tag/v7.10.0) * [v8.7.0](https://github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/releases/tag/v8.7.0) ### Workarounds To prevent this state from being introduced to a chain, it is possible to permission Channel Opening as a workaround. ### Notes on Re-Release This is an extension of the previous patch, please update to the latest patch to get full coverage against the reported issue. #### Is this state breaking? This patch is not state breaking unless an exploit is submitted before the patch is applied across the network in which case the chain will halt just as if it was unpatched. Thus, you can safely apply this patch in a rolling manner and encourage validators to patch as soon as possible in order to prevent any chain halts (and we've already cut new versions of these for you). #### Testing we have done to gain more confidence in this release * In addition to testing ibc-go, we also did the following: * Tested PFM v7 and v8 after bumping dependencies * Tested ibc-hooks v7 and v8 after bumping dependencies * Ran a patched node on Cosmos Hub Mainnet and triggered failing and successful transactions that used PFM * Ran a patched node on Osmosis mainnet and triggered failing and successful transactions that used ibc-hooks This is a more thorough process than before, so we have higher confidence. This issue was reported to the Cosmos Bug Bounty Program by swelf19 on HackerOne on February 18, 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 [security@interchain.io](mailto:security@interchain.io). 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 IBC-Go [repository](https://github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/security/advisories/GHSA-4wf3-5qj9-368v).

GHSA-4wf3-5qj9-368v Affected IBC-Go Versions

8 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
7.10.08.7.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
github.com/cosmos/ibc-go
Go
< 7.10.0
7.10.0
github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v8
Go
≥ 8.0.0-alpha.1
< 8.7.0
8.7.0
github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v2
Go
< 7.10.0
7.10.0
github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v3
Go
< 7.10.0
7.10.0
github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v4
Go
< 7.10.0
7.10.0
github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v5
Go
< 7.10.0
7.10.0
github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v6
Go
< 7.10.0
7.10.0
github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v7
Go
< 7.10.0
7.10.0

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is GHSA-4wf3-5qj9-368v?
GHSA-4wf3-5qj9-368v is a security vulnerability in IBC-Go involving Non-deterministic JSON Unmarshalling of IBC Acknowledgement can result in a chain halt under General Security Weakness.
Which IBC-Go versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 7.10.0, 8.7.0 across affected packages: github.com/cosmos/ibc-go, github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v8, github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v2, github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v3, github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v4, github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v5, github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v6, github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v7.
What version fixes GHSA-4wf3-5qj9-368v?
Upgrading to 7.10.0, 8.7.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is github.com/cosmos/ibc-go affected?
Yes, github.com/cosmos/ibc-go is affected in releases prior to 7.10.0. Upgrade your dependency to 7.10.0 or later.
Is github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v8 affected?
Yes, github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/v8 is affected in releases prior to 8.7.0. Upgrade your dependency to 8.7.0 or later.
What CWE is associated with GHSA-4wf3-5qj9-368v?
GHSA-4wf3-5qj9-368v is classified under General Security Weakness.
How can I check Go dependencies for GHSA-4wf3-5qj9-368v?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for github.com/cosmos/ibc-go'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
{
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  "id" : "GHSA-4wf3-5qj9-368v",
  "modified" : "2025-03-12T19:29:11Z",
  "published" : "2025-03-12T19:29:11Z",
  "aliases" : [ ],
  "summary" : "IBC-Go: Non-deterministic JSON Unmarshalling of IBC Acknowledgement can result in a chain halt",
  "details" : "Name: ISA-2025-001: Non-deterministic JSON Unmarshalling of IBC Acknowledgement can result in a chain halt\nComponent: IBC-Go\nCriticality: High (Considerable Impact; Likely Likelihood per [ACMv1.2](https://github.com/interchainio/security/blob/main/resources/CLASSIFICATION_MATRIX.md))\nAffected versions: IBC-Go >= v7; Earlier IBC-Go versions MAY also be affected.\nAffected users: Validators, Full nodes, IBC Middleware authors\n\n### Description\n\nAn issue was discovered in IBC-Go's deserialization of acknowledgements that results in non-deterministic behavior which can halt a chain. Any user that can open an IBC channel can introduce this state to the chain. The following patch is in addition to the previous patch which now extends the same protection to all applications beyond transfer.\n\n### Patches\n\nThe new IBC-Go releases below address this issue:\n\n* [v7.10.0](https://github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/releases/tag/v7.10.0)\n* [v8.7.0](https://github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/releases/tag/v8.7.0)\n\n### Workarounds\n\nTo prevent this state from being introduced to a chain, it is possible to permission Channel Opening as a workaround.\n\n### Notes on Re-Release\n\nThis is an extension of the previous patch, please update to the latest patch to get full coverage against the reported issue.\n\n#### Is this state breaking?\n\nThis patch is not state breaking unless an exploit is submitted before the patch is applied across the network in which case the chain will halt just as if it was unpatched. Thus, you can safely apply this patch in a rolling manner and encourage validators to patch as soon as possible in order to prevent any chain halts (and we've already cut new versions of these for you).\n\n#### Testing we have done to gain more confidence in this release\n* In addition to testing ibc-go, we also did the following:\n* Tested PFM v7 and v8 after bumping dependencies\n* Tested ibc-hooks v7 and v8 after bumping dependencies\n* Ran a patched node on Cosmos Hub Mainnet and triggered failing and successful transactions that used PFM\n* Ran a patched node on Osmosis mainnet and triggered failing and successful transactions that used ibc-hooks\nThis is a more thorough process than before, so we have higher confidence.\n\nThis issue was reported to the Cosmos Bug Bounty Program by swelf19 on HackerOne on February 18, 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.\n\nIf you have questions about Interchain security efforts, please reach out to our official communication channel at [security@interchain.io](mailto:security@interchain.io). 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.  \n\nA Github Security Advisory for this issue is available in the IBC-Go [repository](https://github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/security/advisories/GHSA-4wf3-5qj9-368v).",
  "severity" : [ ],
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  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2025-03-12T19:29:11Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}